Finding Freedom
by LeoniaMew
Summary: Larger summary within. Sirius Black has just escaped Azkaban prison and is set on finding Pettigrew. After stumbling upon a small city, he finds some unexpected help.
1. Chapter One

_Disclaimer: Love ya, J.K.R. Not stealing, just borrowing. _

Introduction and Explanation 

This is basically post-OotP denial, he he he. Now this is just my own little project that I happen to enjoy writing and I've already gotten five chapters down. I never planned on posting it here, but it seems to be turning out alright. 

Anyway, it's set in the summer before Prisoner of Azkaban. Sirius has just escaped from Azkaban and stumbles upon a city in his travels. There he encounters a Muggle young woman who is having a difficult time fitting in among the city folk. Through one circumstance or another (as you'll hopefully read), she takes him in, not realizing that the big black shaggy dog she's adopting as her pet is actually Sirius Black. After that, I can't spoil, he he he. 

That's a very brief summary. Try it out. :) 

  


_Disclaimer: Love ya, J.K.R. Not stealing, just borrowing. _

Chapter One 

_He's at Hogwarts..._

It was the sole thought that drove Sirius Black to dash through the muddy ground in this hellish weather, half starving and exhausted beyond delerium. He couldn't stop running. Four days and he coulnd't remember doing anything but running. Then again, he couldn't stop, even if he wanted to. The Ministry would have every pawn of theirs out roaming the wide green earth just to get him back. Just to get back the sole person to ever break out of Azkaban. And he knew what they'd have waiting for him if they ever caught him... 

_He's at Hogwarts.... At Hogwarts...._

The rain fell in pellets the size of ping pong balls, sending splatters of mud into Black's eyes as he flew over the ground. The sky above flashed with the lightening accompanying the storm and Sirius cursed it as it briefly shed light on everything shrouded in the dark of night. One of those breif intervals of light could be enough to give him away... 

A sharp pain shot up his already aching front leg, and he let out a yelp as blood spattered up around him mingled in the mud. He didn't stop running for half a second. His pace didn't even slow or his form alter to take pressure off his now injured and bleeding front paw. There was simply not enough time to tend to his physical needs. 

Hours he ran in his healthless condition, half mad with hunger and yet still fighting the nausea clenching his empty stomach from the taste of his own blood in his mouth. The storm didn't lessen, but strongthened. The wind became strong enough to make the lesser tree branches creak under the force. The rain stung as it hit the dogs sore back. Were anyone around to see him, they would have shot the animal out of the kindness of their hearts. His dripping wet coat hung around a thin malnutritioned body, dirt and blood splashed from the tips of his fur as he moved. Despite the deathly ill appearance of the Animagus, his eyes burned with a fire of determination that not even the God forsaken storm could put out. It was all he had left of himself. 

Sirius saw the muddied forest path he'd been traveling end several yards ahead of him. He finally stopped running, panting heavily, limbs trembling from over exertion. Beyond the protection of the forest foliage lie the open, vulnerable streets of a small, bustling city. He couldn't turn back. He had to go on, even if there was danger among populated areas. A spark of anxious excitement flickered in his mind. Populated areas. People. He'd walk among free people for the first time in, what, twelve years? 

His legs finally gave out and he dragged himself to lie curled at the base of a tree. Now that he was no longer moving, his hunger seized him full force. Sirius spotted a patch of green grass growing at the root of the tree. He contented himself to nibble on the bitter leaves, having no alternative. Starving and weary, he let himself slink into a half aware state, as close as he would be getting to sleep until he reached Hogwarts. 

*

"What did you do to him?" the young man shouted angrily, kneeling beside the fallen form of his best friend. 

The unconscious friend lay on the ground with a trail of dark red blood seeping through a cut over his left eye. Seconds ago a rather heavy cooler had miraculously flown from it's spot on a shelf behind the Coutryman's Tavern's bar counter and struck it's victim exactly where the wound bled. Quite a few eyes had beheld the scene and now watched curiously, neither helping the injured customer nor the wide eyed woman standing a foot or two from the victim and his friend. 

"I said what did you do to him?" he cried again, furiously. 

"N-nothing!" the young woman shouted, though paling at the same time. 

The conscious man got to his feet, glaring at her accusingly. "Nothing?? I saw what happened! You threw out your hand and that cooler flew clear across the room at Robert!" 

"Are you saying that I _willed_ it to move?" she asked, regaining her usual cool composure. 

Inside, she was anything but calm. She knew she had caused the cooler to hit Robert, intentionally or not. This wasn't the first time such an event occured to Roxanne Callisto. This was the seventh occasion of it's supernatural sort, all the previous happenings occuring only in times when she felt great peril or anger. 

Robert's friend looked at her darkly. "I don't know how you managed it, but that seems to be the case." 

"Ay, she must 'ave been delving in the black art!" cried an old man, rum sloshing over the rim of his mug as he waved it in Roxanne's direction viciously. "Tha devil 'imself workin' through 'er hands!" 

Roxanne ignored the drunks word, but a murmur rose among the occupants of the bar. Robert's friend's eyes narrowed at her in deeper suspicion. 

"I believe I'll have to ask you take leave of this place, miss," the bar owner said, not daring leave the safety of his spot behind the counter. 

"_Me_ leave? Are you blind? None of you saw that git and his friend making rather ungentlemanly advances on me?" she asked, outraged. "You expect me to sit here and not defend myself?" 

"Then you _did_ do it," the young man muttered, cursing. 

"Can't you ever hold your tongue, Rick?" Roxanne groaned as the stares of the bar customers grew more intense and accusory. 

"You watch yourself, Callisto," Rick warned, kneeling back down beside his friend. "I don't care if you are some kind of bloody vampire, it won't help you when we find you." 

Roxanne bit back a retort, but allowed a frustrated sigh to escape through her clenched teeth. She turned on her heel and exited the bar, leaving behind a room full of confused and suspicious patrons. The girl didn't allow herself a thought on the matter until she had walked seven blocks to a tall apartment building and entered. Once she climbed a flight of steps and shut the door of Apartment B15 behind her, she threw herself onto her couch. Roxanne hugged a pillow to her chest, eyes closed tight as her thoughts broke free in her mind. 

She could have killed that boy today. It could have been the set of large cuttlery sitting precariously close to the thrown cooler that had been propelled at Robert's skull. Maybe he was dead. That cooler had seemed very hefty, the way it dropped to the floor with a loud crash after it bounced off his head. And the speed at which it flitted across the room... 

"No..." Roxanne whimpered into the pillow. 

No. He wasn't dead. Surely, if the cooler had produced such a small breakage in the skin it hadn't been forceful enough to make a dent in Robert's thick skull. He was alive. But had he been standing a bit more to the left he would have lost an eye... Roxanne shuddered and squeezed the pillow tighter until she feared the down would pop right out of the fabric. 

She couldn't help what had happened. Robert and Rick had been torturing her since she transferred to Forgrove University from her old college. They approached her nearly everyday with some crude word or gesture. Once they had nearly become violent and would have surely went the whole way had a policeman not pulled into the college parking lot at that moment. Roxanne was in no way a weak or easily frightened woman, but when she saw the murderous gleam in Robert's eyes that day in the parking lot... Another shudder shook her slender frame. She had always been extra wary of the duo since that day two months ago. So when they tried to bodily advance on her that afternoon in the bar, she'd panicked. 

Roxanne didn't understand how she could do what she did. Seven times in her life it had happened. In a moment of high fear or anger, a strange energy would rush through her very veins, and before she knew what was happening, some stationary object would sail from it's spot or one on occasion, burst into flames. The first time had been when she was eight. She'd been walking home from a friends house when she lived in the suburbs when an unfriendly figure approached her. She'd been frightened to death. She cried out and threw out her hands when he got too near and a set of trashcans slammed into her assailant from a nearby pavement. The girl had run as if all hell were on her heels back to her friend's house without another thought on the matter. As time went on she realized what had actually occured. Realized, but not understood. Now over ten years later, at the age of twenty-four, she was no closer to knowing what within her caused these things to happen. 

She tossed her pillow aside a few minutes later when she felt her thoughts had settled and walked into her apartments small kitchen to put on some tea. Her apartment was of modest size and modest furnishings. Her living room had enough space for a small entertainment stand containing a television, VCR, radio, and her ever addictive Playstation, a small comfortable gray sofa facing it and a coffee table between the two. A photo of her parents hung beside the doorway to her bedroom and a watercolor painting of a dark, starry night was mounted on the opposite wall beside the entrance to the kitchen. The kitchen was only large enough to walk into seven steps and across four. It had a range, sink, dishwasher (thankfully), counter and refridgerator. Roxanne was grateful to have had enough money to afford even this small living space. Her parents offered to help her with the rent, but she refused. They weren't in a good place, financially, and were already assisting her college funding. A small, cozy spot was all she needed to get by. 

While waiting for her tea to brew, Roxanne dropped a stack of books on her living room coffee table as she sat down. She opened the first text to reveal a skychart. She had taken a minor in astronomy since the celestial world around the earth she knew had fascinated her since early childhood. She knew that this world wasn't all there was. There was more to life than the mundane routines and pains and utter monotony. When she expressed these sincere thoughts to others she always recieved the same type of answers. She was a dreamer. Reality was reality and there was nothing magical about it. Nothing. 

Somehow Roxanne found that hard to swallow. 

The following night, the prior day's events were far from her mind. She was returning from her evening Karate lessons at quarter past eleven. She had stood a half hour longer to help her sensei fix the bookshelf she'd accidentally knocked over during the lesson. Roxanne had never been extremely athletic, but she had taken to karate two years ago, with more interest in the artistic side of it, rather than in the strength she was gaining. After a lesson, her mind would feel so clear and unburdened. Everything would turn out alright. Unfortunatey, it would leave her so mellow and sedated that she often paid little attention to anything other than the clarity in her mind. That was the wrote state of mind for this night. 

Roxanne rounded the corner of Muller Street and crossed the road to take the short route to her apartment through Folden Park. The park was dark that night, since the road lights were turned off at ten thirty by the grounds keeper. No one walked through this late anyway. There was no need to run up the electric bill. Except this night there was more than one passer by in the park. 

The girl stopped in the middle of the dirt road to look up at the night sky through the foliage. This was the only place in the city she had gotten a clear view of the stars and moon. Streetlights dimmed the stars' radiance and blurred out constellations. But now.... Now she could see the constellation Canis Major shining brightly, not dimmed entirely by the light of the full moon. What a sight... 

"Stargazing, Callisto?" a deep voice spoke into her ear, hot breath hitting her neck. 

Before Roxanne could cry out, a hand clammped roughly over her mouth. She wildly struggled against her captor, flailing her arms madly. A second person walked around the one restraining her. She immediatly noted the white bandage on his forehead and knew it was Robert. Panic filled her. Could she count on her luck to work again for her in such a short span of time? Not that it mattered. There was nothing to be hurled nearby. She was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to will a tree to uproot itself or a lamp to unscrew from it's stand and fly at Rick. 

So she would have to improvise. Roxanne leaned back as far as she could, pushing Rick backward as she did it. He laughed at the attempt. 

"What do you think you're---" 

The girl suddenly propelled herself forward, bending so that she flipped Rick over her. She landed painfully on the hard road, but she was free from Rick. Roxanne jumped to her feet and dropped into a defensive karate stance. By now Rick was standing and brushing the dirt off his gray shirt, snickering at Robert. 

"Look at that. Callisto knows some kung foo," he snorted. "Try that against this, deary." 

To Roxanne's dread he slipped a thin switchblade from the back pocket of his jeans, smugly. Robert copied his friend's actions, no humor in his cold, furious eyes. The two boys stalked toward her as she took careful steps backwards from them. She wasn't good enough at karate to feel very confident about this situation. In fact, for the first time in her life, she wished her strange powers would act up and send a nearby tree into flames or throw Rick across the park. She had no such luck as she suddenly found herself backed against a tree, both boys still moving toward her. 

So this was it. She would die at the hands of these two low-lifes. As if she couldn't be frightened enough, a sound rose behind the girl that made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. A low, guttural growl came from the brush behind her. She saw Rick and Robert stare at a spot just beyond her, the former amused, the latter somewhat frightened. Before Roxanne could comprehend what was lurking behind her, a streak of black rushed by her head and hit Rick in the chest, knocking him down. His switchblade flew from his hand as he hit the road hard. 

Robert backed away from the black beast perched on his friend's chest in horror. Roxanne let her eyes fall on the monster. A large, shaggy black dog stood, fur raised on it's back, fierce eyes glaring murderously at Rick. 

"What are you doing? Help me!" he cried to Robert. 

"H-help you?? No way, man!" Robert exclaimed, his devotion to his friend only stretching so far. 

The black dog gave Robert a feral growl, baring its gleaming white fangs. That was all the boy needed to take off and forget his friend and their vow to pay back Roxanne. 

"Coward..." Rick grumbled, pulling back an arm and slapping the dog off of him. 

The dog gave a short yip as it fell off of it's victims chest. Rick scrambled along the dirt to grasp his switchblade again. He got to his feet, anger in his eyes. He brushed a line of blood from his lip, turning his murderous glare on the dog. The animal was ready to lunge at him if danger presented itself, fur raised along the ridge of its back. 

"Damn mut. You're going to pay for that..." Rick said, grinning maliciously as he raised the switchblade to throw it. 

Before the weapon left his grasp, Rick flopped to the ground, unceremoniously. Roxanne stood over his fallen form holding a hefty looking tree branch in her hands. She threw aside the peice of wood and bent to pick up the dropped switch blade. Her eyes flickered as she looked at the lethal object in her hand, then back down at Rick's defenseless body. He would have killed her tonight, if not worse... He would try again, she had no doubt of that much. She could end it right now. She had the right to. It would solve everything... 

Roxanne let the weapon fly from her fingers. Half a second later it struck a tree trunk, vibrating from the impact. She'd call the police when she got home, but she'd be damned if she was going to take Rick to a safe place or sink to his level and finish him off. With any luck someone would steal his clothing and valuables before the police reached him. 

The girl looked over at the dog standing a few feet away, wagging its long black tail. The same eyes that had been burning with a mad fury were now shining with the friendliness only a dog could project. Roxanne smiled and catiously walked towards the creature. 

"Thanks for helping me tonight, pup," she said, holding out a hand for it to sniff. 

The dog looked at her hand, then back up at her with no malice in its light eyes. Taking the gesture as an okay, Roxanne knelt down beside the animal and gave it a scratch behind the ears. 

"You're a dirty little thing aren't you?" she mused, observing its mud caked fur. 

Her eyes narrowed as she took a closer look. The dog looked like it hadn't eaten in days. Among the patches of dirt were flecks of a deep red substance. It was dried blood. Roxanne followed the trail to its source. She nearly gasped when she found the cause of the blood flow. A thick bit of splintered wood was imbedded in the dog's left forepaw. 

"You're hurt..." she whispered. "Probably starving, too... Well, I owe you one, don't I? Come on, you can stay with me until you're healed up." 

Roxanne stood up and took a few steps backwards, urging the dog to follow. It gave a bark and padded along after her, slightly favoring it's right paw. 

The dog followed the woman all the way to her Apartment building where she stopped to unlock the door. Why not take some time to recover? He was safe here for a while, after all. Who would ever think to look for Sirius Black in a Muggle college student's apartment so many miles from Azkaban Prison? 

* * *

Good? Bad? I'd like to know if you'd care to tell. ^__^ 


	2. Chapter Two

_Disclaimer: Love ya, J.K.R. Not stealing, just borrowing. _

Chapter Two 

"Stay still!!" Roxanne huffed, as she fell on her backside once again. 

Sirius scurried away from her as fast as he could with one profusely bleeding front paw. The whole arrangement had seemed wonderful until four minutes ago when the words 'bath' and 'first-aid' left Roxanne's lips. He'd spotted the text books common of a Muggle medical student on her coffee table, but he was no keener on letting her pull the splintering wood from his paw than he was on Apparating back to Azkaban. He gave a yip when Roxanne leapt clear over her couch and landed in his path. Before he could turn to dash away, she had her arms about him. 

"Stay still!! If I don't remove it you're going to bleed to death or die of infection!" she shouted, keeping a firm hold on the wildly squirming dog. "Do you want to die?" 

The animal seemed to calm down a bit a Sirius considered her words. He had to live. He had to find Peter Pettigrew. He had to avenge his lost friends, his own stolen freedom. Sirius stopped his struggle and sat obediantly in front of Roxanne. She let out a breath of relief, realizing his submission. 

"Stay," she commanded, reaching over to the coffee table and picking up a set of tweezers. 

Sirius gave a whimper upon laying eyes on the silver, unfriendly looking instrument. Roxanne lifted his injured paw gently into one hand and began to carefully remove the bits of wood. The dog squeezed his eyes shut, expecting a sharp pain. Instead he felt a few pinpricks and opened his eyes to see Roxanne dropping the first splinter onto a napkin she'd set aside to hold the offending objects. 

"Not so bad, is it?" she mused, working on the next piece. 

_'Nothing compared to some of the other things I've been through,'_ he thought, coming as close to a grimace as he could in his Animagus form. 

He managed to sit still as the girl deftly plucked splinter after splinter from his bleeding paw. She worked with a skillfull care only gained by hours of practice and experience. She would be a good doctor, her current patient decided, taking the moment to get a good look at the young woman. She was pretty, no doubt, but not in the ordinary way. There was something exotic about the angle of her defined cheekbones and the olive tint to her skin. Her eyes were a green deeper than grass at the height of spring, her hair, falling just past her shoulders in slight waves of deep auburn. 

Seeing her made Sirius feel a rush of sorrow. When was the last time he had beheld beauty of any kind? When had he last gazed into a woman's eyes or held one? Twelve years ago. He had lost so much time. At the age of thirty-five he would have to start his entire life all over again. That was, if he could manage to clear his name and regain his freedom first. 

"There!" Roxanne said, ruffling the fur atop Sirius's head. "You'll be as good as new after a bath and a meal or two." 

The dog's ears pricked up at the mention of a bath. Sirius certainly new he wasn't really a dog, but Roxanne couldn't possibly know he was acutally a grown wizard in his Animagus form. He doubted she'd offer to give him a bath with _that_ bit of knowledge. Unfortunately, he felt his feet suddenly leave the ground as Roxanne picked him up. 

"For looking like you haven't eaten in a month you're pretty... damn.... heavy... oof!" Roxanne managed to reach her bathroom without giving herself a hernia and set Sirius down on the lavender colored rug. 

He immediately took off in the direction of the door only to have it closed and locked inches before him. _'Not good...'_ Sirius darted past Roxanne and squeezed behind her towel rack in hopes she would give up or decide to hand him a shower cap and let him bathe himself. The woman started up the water in the bathtub. A minute later the towel rack was pushed aside and Roxanne stooped to lift the dog again. Sirius made to dive past her when he realized the only place to go was either towards Roxanne or into the tub. He opted for the latter, instantly regretting the decision. A second after his paws splashed into the warm water, Roxanne leapt in after him. Before he could question her sanity, she had him cornered and was squeezing generous amounts of shampoo into her palm. 

_'She's mad, isn't she...? The only person I can find to take me in and she'd mad...'_ he thought, backing as far against the wall as he could. 

Sirius gave a yip when a rush of water hit him from above. Roxanne chuckled, turning off the shower once the dog was satisfactorily soaked. 

"This isn't much worse then having twenty splinters removed, I assure you. i bathe every night and I'm still alive," she mused, rubbing the shampoo into the dog's shaggy black coat. 

The scent of green tea leaves hit Sirius's nose as the woman scrubbed the mud out of his fur for all she was worth. Green tea? He'd smell like a flower for a week... A more pressing matter came to his mind. He remembered that Roxanne wasn't quite aware of the fact he was as human as she was. She was giving him shelter and food and tending to his wounds. She deserved to be respected, and Sirius was certain she wouldn't consider finding out she had had her hands all over a grown wizard and not a dog respectful. Again he struggled to leap past her and push her away. 

"Ah! You're getting soap in my eyes!" she said, scrubbing a spot of mud off of the dog's ear. "Stop moving around or I'll have to sedate you... somehow..." 

Sirius wasn't exactly sure what she had at her disposal that could sedate someone, but he didn't entirely doubt she could carry out her threat. Her hands moved to rub at an area on his back. His aching muscles seemed to relax at the touch. Sirius slowly ceased his struggle against Roxanne's efforts. This was the first human contact he'd had in over a decade and it felt good... Just as Sirius was allowing himself to relax a bit, a secomd wave of water fell on him from above. 

"All done," she said, turning the shower off and stepping out of the tub. "Not so horrible, right?" 

Sirius guiltily had to agree with that statement. He shook the water from his fur and hopped out of the confines of the tub. Roxanne opened the bathroom door and let the dog out. She laid a large towel out on her rug and whitled for him to come over. 

"I'd appreciate you not soaking my carpet, not that you understand a word I'm saying to you," she sighed. 

Feeling a bit resentful at her insinuating his ignorance, Sirius sat down on the towel to prove he understood. Roxanne raised a brow at the dog. 

"Alright, so you're a little smarter than I thought," she mummbled. "... Well, I'll get you some food. Stay." 

A moment later, a heaping dish of chopped up beef franks were set before him. Sirius dove at the plate, practically inhaling its contents. Roxanne chuckled and returned to the bathroom to clean it up. 

Sirius laid down on the towel, licking his chops after he consumed nearly eight pounds of hot dogs in under ten minutes. He saw a splash of red on the white towel out of the corner of his eye. His paw was still bleeding a bit. He frowned inwardly. How long would that take to heal? How long would he remain at this girl's home? 

That was when it occured to Sirius that he had no idea what day it was. He didn't even have a clue as to which month. How long was it until the next school year at Hogwart's began? And where was he? Hogwarts was no where near his current location, of that he could be sure. He really hadn't considered what he would do once he escaped Azkaban. All he knew was that he needed to acquire a wand and manage to get into Hogwarts and find Pettigrew to pay him back for the past twelve years. 

He let out a wide yawn despite the emotions that flared up inside him at the thought of finding Pettigrew. Sirius was always known for being rather brash and thoughtless when it came to his actions. He never agreed with those sentiments. It felt wrong to him to waste time when action could be taken immediately. It felt wrong to wait until Peter showed himself to Sirius and Remus. It felt wrong to listen to Remus about not letting his emotions control him, even with James and Lily's death making him near mad with sorrow and anger and guilt. So he acted. He found Pettigrew himself and the little rat turned the tables. Sirius landed in Azkaban, labeled the treacherous murderer, while Pettigrew got away honored as the faithful martyr. And as far as the world knew, it was true. Harry thought he murdered his parents. Dumbledore thought it. Remus thought it. 

Sirius thought about his friend Remus Lupin, not for the first time since the day his life was flipped upside down. How was he getting along? The only thing that made made life bearable for the man had been having his friends. He'd told Sirius himself. Now what was he doing? Locking himself up every fullmoon, alone? Walking through the world, afraid to get too close to anyone? Wondering why Sirius had murdered their three best friends? Even if he ever managed to find Remus and convince him he was innocent, it would never be the same. Especially since Sirius didn't really think himself innocent. 

He pushed those thoughts aside for now. Why torture himself again? Soon all would be set right... 

"Wow... you didn't leave a scrap, did you?" Roxanne said, picking up the plate she'd set in front of him. "You eat like a horse..." 

Roxanne bit her bottom lip, eyeing the animals thin frame. She went into the kitchen and refilled the plate without another moment's hesitation. Sirius gladly cleaned another dish of hot dogs, diving at it before it touched the floor. She gave him a scratch behind the ears, sitting on the slightly damp rug beside him. 

"You seem smart for a dog, so listen if you can," she said. "I'm not exactly permitted to have any type of pets up here. My landlord would kick me on the street and toss a fine or two in if he could. I've decided to keep you, but if you go barking all the time we'll both be out in the cold. Understood?" 

Sirius gave a nod, forgetting he was a dog. Roxanne let out a laugh, ruffling the damp fur atop his head. 

"I'll take that as a yes," she mused. "I wouldn't have sent you away, anyway. It gets lonely. Just between you and me, I'm not very popular around this city... Even less so than I was in high school." 

Sirius cocked his head to one side. Not popular? He couldn't imagine Roxanne not having a following in her high school days. If she were a couple inches taller, she could be a model, he was sure. She frowned, removing her hand from his head and looking at it. 

"I don't know what to do. I can't help whatever it is..." she muttered, then glanced over at the dog. "You must think I'm crazy for talking to you like a person, but believe me, you sitting there listening is enough for me. I haven't seen my family in a year and the people here aren't too fond of me..." 

At this point, Sirius was again doubting the girl's sanity. But then again, how many people had doubted his in his lifetime, even before he became a 'murderer'? 

"I suppose it's partially due to my little reputation. It doesn't help that the crazy bloke got out of prison last week," she snorted. "They look at me like I helped him get out or something." 

_'She can't be talking about who I think she's talking about...'_ Sirius thought. 

"It's not my fault I was there when Sirius Black supposedly killed all those people," she shrugged. 

_'Supposedly...?'_ he wondered. 

Roxanne sighed and got up. "Well, I'm off to bed. Try to be quiet so Mr. Reckles doesn't hear a dog in my apartment. 'Night." 

_No no no, come back... Why 'supposedly?''_ Sirius thought, watching her walk into her bedroom. _'Damn.'_

It seemed like his stay with Roxanne Callisto was about to become a little more interesting. 

* * *


	3. Chapter Three

_Disclaimer: Love ya, J.K.R. Not stealing, just borrowing. _

Chapter Three 

Four days later, Sirius had a pretty good idea of Roxanne's routine life. She woke at quarter of eight, took a shower, changed into a pair of drawstrings pants and tee shirt and went out to jog. She'd come back an hour later, change again into more presentable clothing, grabs her bookbag and head off to her first class. Two hours later she'd return with lunch for the both of them. Sirius gathered she was a health nut from her lunches of sushi or noodles or salads with ginger dressing. Luckily she gave Sirius meat or breads or some other calorie loaded food, most likely in hopes of fattening him back up. She'd hang around the apartment a few hours then head to class number two, probably followed by her job. Sirius guessed that's where she went because she usualy returned home tired looking, mummbling about paying bills on such a meager salary. 

She was always sure to play with or talk to the dog a little everyday. So far she confided in him her family life, frustrations with her job as a waitress at a nearby bar and on the cruel antics of two men named Robert and Rick, who also happened to be the blokes he'd seen assault her in Folden Park. With all her talking, Roxanne's personality revealed itself. So far she seemed to be a pretty independent, strong-willed woman with alot of frustrations. She had a strange, subtle sense of humor that Sirius took to, gladly, since it reminded him of Remus in one of his more mischevious moods. He was also thankful she didn't turn out to be one of those airy types. Roxanne seemed to be an intellegent girl and somewhat stubborn in her opinions. Not that Sirius minded. He was the same way. 

Between Roxanne's job and classes and other daily activities, Sirius had plenty of time to himself. The very first time she left the house he raided the refridgerator and searched for a newspaper. Sure enough he was on the cover. The Ministry had even put the Muggle world on alert. They were making it very difficult for Sirius to do anything but pretend to be Roxanne's pet dog, whom she seemed to decide on calling 'Snuffles' to Sirius's great annoyance. He had gathered that it was early July and he was in a city called Forgrove, quite a hike from Hogwarts and London and, to his relief, Azkaban. 

By now, Roxanne had been at work a while and Sirius was sitting on her couch as a human, fiddling with the remote control. Four days and he still couldn't figure out how the hell Roxanne used it to turn on the box she called a television. He'd hit every button on the damned thing and nothing happened. Scowling, Sirius threw the remote down on the coffee table. The television blinked to life, loud sound pouring from it. Sirius jumped in surprise, staring at it in confusion. 

"Figures..." he snorted, picking the remote back up. 

Unfortunately the only thing on was a music video featuring a rather starnge group of boys singing in rather high pitched, near female voices. Sirius scrunched up his nose at the sound. 

"This is Muggle music...? Horrible..." he grumble, trying desperately to turn the television off. 

The channel switched to a tennis match as his fingers pushed the wrong buttons. Next an anime cartoon popped on, followed by a historical documentary and finally an infomercial, offering the best deals on a revolutionary lint remover. Sirius managed to turn it off, and leaned back in the chair with a sigh of relief, feeling slightly disappointed that all his hard work in learning to use the machine brought no good to him. He decided a snack would cheer him up and made to go to the kitchen. 

He froze the moment he stood up, hearing a key being turned in the lock of the apartment door. Sirius became a large black dog, watching the door. Whoever was out there was having trouble getting in. Maybe it wasn't Roxanne home early... maybe it was someone from the Ministry... maybe it was the police. No, how could the police know or even believe he was an Animagus? Still, envisioning a group of Ministry officers rushing into the room, wands all pointing at the escaped convict didn't seem too improbable. 

The door swung open and in stumbled a dark-haired woman, dropping one of her text book and her keys as she slammed the door shut behind her. She stood there a moment in silence, staring at the floor. Sirius could see her face from his point of view and her grass green eyes held anger and that all too familiar look of frustration. 

"DAMNIT!" she suddenly shouted, hurling her bookbag across the room. "Damnit, I wish had killed him when I had the chance!!!!" 

Roxanne furiously sat on her couch and violently crushed a pillow to her chest. She sat there a good seven minutes in silence. Sirius decided now was a good time to act and hopped up on the couch beside her. Roxanne looked over at him and let the pillow fall to the floor, putting her arms around the big shaggy dog. 

"After he attacks me in a park he has the nerve to go to the bar and demand I be fired..." she muttered, releasing the dog. "That idiot Rick got me fired..." 

She put a hand to her head. "He told Mr. Ross he'd sue if he didn't let me go. Everyone knows Ross is a miserly old git. He'd have bodily thrown me out the door if it meant a quick buck! He even wants me to pay for the cooler that I threw! Well... threw isn't exactly the right word..." 

Roxanne stood up and began to pace. Her mind worked furiously. She lost her job. With the basis she was fired on she'd never get another job. How would she pay her tuition? How would she eat or pay her bills? How would she feed Snuffles or get him shots at the vet? God, how would she pay her _rent_? Or for the damn cooler, no less?? 

She had had the switchblade in her hands. Rick had been defenseless. She could have killed him in ten seconds and chalked it up to self defense. He would have deserved it, too. Rick had tormented her from day one, tried to attack her, hurt her, frighten her, _kill_ her... But did the police give a damn when she reported an assault in the park? No. Who would believe Roxanne Callisto? Anyone would recognized her name thought her delusional, especially with her reputation. And Rick? Of course they took his word that he had been defending her from a mugger and she left him in the park. Why wouldn't they believe a 'well bred' young man who had gotten a full athletic scholarship to Forgrove University? 

"It's not fair..." she muttered through clenched teeth, words dripping with rage. 

And she felt it. A little twitch in her chest that grew and spread until a rush of strange power coursed through her. She couldn't stop it. Rick's smug face kept popping into her mind, laughing at her as she left her job behind. 

"_Damnit_!" she snapped, throwing her hand out in front of her. 

To Sirius's surprise, a vase that had been sitting perfectly motionless on the coffee table hurled itself clear across the room, shattering against the first wall it hit. He backed away from the coffee table when it shakily rose half an inch from the floor. The dog looked at Roxanne, alarmed. _'Is she doing that...? Is she a witch?'_ A look of sheer horrow crossed Roxanne's face as she realized what was about to happen. She let her hand fall to her side and the table clunked back down on the rug, harmlessly. 

"Oh, God... What the hell am I?" she whispered, leaning weakly against her wall. 

_'So she doesn't realize what she is...'_ Sirius thought. 

Roxanne wearily forced herself to walk into her kitchen. 

"Here, Snuffles..." she muttered, setting a bowl of water and a plate of leftover spaghetti and meatballs on the tiled kitchen floor. 

Sirius cringed at the sound of his 'name' and went to eat his meal. He watched Roxanne moodily leave the kitchen and go into her bedroom as he chewed on a meatball. 

He was pretty sure he had an idea of why she hadn't been popular in high school. In the Muggle world, having the powers she had exerted would seem unnatural and fearsome. While she obviously didn't understand her abilities, nor could she control them, Sirius doubted anyone aside from those two clowns Robert and Rick had ever seen her use them. Of course they probably spread rumors through the school, but college wasn't as petty as high school. Most people were adult enough to ignore rumors. So Roxanne's lack of 'popularity' wasn't due to her abilities. 

The only reason Sirius could understand Roxanne was from growing up with Remus. In the wizarding world, being a werewolf is as frowned upon as using magic in the Muggle world. No one knew he was a werewolf, but Remus felt guilty, ashamed at times. He wouldn't let himself be open to people because he knew what he was. And it was no different in Roxanne's case. She knew what she was capable of and she was frightened of it. So she pushed people away to protect them. And herself. 

Sirius slurped up the last piece of pasta as he wondered how many people in the world only _thought_ they were Muggles. If she ever figured out what she was, Roxanne was in for a shock. Sirius decided that if he was ever declared innocent he would find her and explain it all to her. She deserved to know she wasn't such an outcast. It was too dangerous to transform and have a little chat at the present. Sirius trotted over to the blanket Roxanne laid out for him in the parlor and curled up. He drifted to sleep wondering when he would get to sleep in a real bed again. 

*

Sirius heard Roxanne's bedroom door open and he glanced up from where he had been lounging beside the newspaper she'd left lying open on the couch. He held his gaze on the girl, surprised at her attire. Roxanne walked over to her wall mirror to put in her earrings, wearing a pair of fitted, low rise black dress pants and a stylish black and white striped shirt that cut off at a diagonal, allowing a tasteful portion of her middriff to show. She went over to the couch to pick up her handbag from where she left it. 

"I have to head out, Snuffles," she said. 

Sirius forced his eyes to stop traveling down the girl and looked up at her, guiltily. _'Not very nice considering she's giving you food and shelter even without a weekly paycheck.'_

"I'll be back at four with your dinner," she promised, tossing him a smile as she opened the apartment door. "Bye bye. Be a good boy." 

The door closed behind her and Sirius stood there staring at it. Once he heard the locks click and Roxanne's high-heeled footsteps fade down the hall, he transformed into a man. 

"Where could she be going dressed like that...?" he wondered aloud. 

He cringed a bit at the sound of his voice. It still sounded like he was recovering from a sore throat. His voice was scratchy from days upon days of silence. While he had the house to himself he would read articles from the paper aloud in hopes of regaining his original voice. He wasn't in the mood to reread the paper today, so Sirius went into the kitchen and helped himself to a snack. He opened the refridgerator door and stood there, looking over it's contents for a moment. It was strange how much you appreciate being able to pick your own meal after enduring twelve years of consuming what had no right to be labeled food. Sirius grinned as he settled on some leftover chicken cutlets, potatoes and a pudding snack pack. A perfect delicassy. 

*

Roxanne's car pulled into the hotel's parking lot twenty minutes later. She nearly stumbled out of her car, still a bit unaccustomed to wearing shoes with such high heels. Silently cursing whatever notion made her opt for the black stilletos over her trusty-flat-slingbacks, she walked up to the hotel's entrance with as much dignity as she could muster. The damned shoes clacked against the polished marble floor as she headed over to the information desk. The man behind the counter politely motioned for her to wait, since he was currently on the phone resolving an issue with a client. 

Roxanne took this moment to get a look at the hotel. It was a beautiful place, if not a little cold and unwelcoming. Every inch of floor was covered in shining marble, walls rising up to a decoratively carved border as they met the off-white ceilings. A number of elegant lamps hung down and Roxanne spotted no less than three chandeliers. Portraits of Victorians women in their laced bonnets and poufed dressed adorned the otherwise bare walls. _'Ah, a little uppity in here, isn't it?'_ Roxanne thought, frowning and feeling out of place. 

"Sorry about that, miss," the concierge said, setting the phone on the reciever. "Can I help you?" 

"I'm here with the Forgrove University honors Ceremony," Roxanne told him. 

"Alright. Take the hall to your right straight down until you arrive at a door with a sign with Forgrove University written on it," he told her. "I believe the ceremony is about to commence, miss." 

"Thank you," she said, hurrying to her right. 

Every year her University held a ceremony to honor their most dedicated and accomplished students and faculty and most supportive alumni which basically came down to whoever made the largest donations. She found the door to the hall and quickly entered and secured herself a seat at a vacant round table near the center of the room. roxanne wasn't being honored with any awards for excellence tonight, but some of her professors and fellow classmates were, so she decided to attend. 

As expected, the ceremony that followed was extremely exhaustive and boring. Long speeches were made by donators about their 'good old Forgrove days' and what an honor it was to be a part of the 'Forgrove family'. Roxanne only became interested when the school dean began to announce honors and accomplishments of the current students and faculty of the University. 

The applause settled down after Abagail Courtly accepted her award for excellence in the field of video journalism and the dean stepped up to the microphone again. 

"Abagail's first documentary will be showing at Crently Theatre on 5th and Gourd Street, so do try to attend. I'm sure it will be more than worth your time," the dean said. "Now here at Forgrove, we honor academic accomplishments and we have an equal respect for our dedicated athletes. These young men and women have bright futures ahead of them. Tonight will not be the first night they will be honored for their acheivements, Im certain. 

"First, I'd like to bring attention to our football team's Captain, Richard Zett." 

Roxanne nearly dropped her wine glass. Richard Zett? _Rick_ Zett was going to be honored as a distinguished member of Forgrove University? Oh, hell. Even if Abagail's documentary _was_ on the preservation and importance of the red gilled Carribean bass to a balanced eco-system, her efforts were worth a hundred fold of Rick's! Roxanne clapped politely as Rick's accomplishments were rattled off in the dean's flowery, exaggerating words, up until he was called up to accept his award. 

"Thank you, Mr. Reger," Rick said, taking his plaque. "Wow. Even though you assure me this is the first of many awards, Mr. Reger, I assure _you_ that it will forever be my most treasured because it comes from my Forgrove family. To be recognized in all of your eyes means more to me that all the recognition the world could offer. I would also--" 

Roxanne froze as Rick's eyes landed on her. He stopped speaking a moment, observing her as his mind worked. The girl became instantly uncomfortable under that calculating stare. A dreadful smile crossed Rick's lips as he looked back out at his audience. 

"I'm sorry for the moment of silence. I was just so taken by..." he paused again, smiling wider. "They say when it rains, it pours, and I like to think of good fortune the same way. I will remember tonight for the rest of my life becuse of the honor you are all bestowing me and for a lifelong choice I will make here, before this academic family. Roxanne Callisto, would you be so kind as to come up here for a moment?" 

Roxanne froze as all heads turned to look at her. _'Ye Gods, what is that idiot doing?'_ she worried. Rick smiled and laughed, urging her to come up. _'Damn, I have to! That asshole backed me into a corner. if I don't go up they'll think I'm an insensitive prick....'_ Roxanne forced a smile onto her face and walked up to the small stage before the entire Forgrove University community. rick turned to her, all smiles, but a glint of wickedness in his dark eyes. 

"Roxy, we've only know eachother a short while, but we've been through alot, wouldn't you agree?" he said. 

"I'll have to agree with that, Rick," she answered, somewhat stiffly. 

"Now... I know this is sudden and I'm not quite prepared because I had decided to wait until I took this step but... they say it's the quality of the time in a relationship and not the quantity that defines it so..." Rick paused. 

And in front of hundreds of people Roxanne would have to face every day until she graduated from the university, Rick got down on one knee and took her hand into his. 

"Will you marry me, Roxy, and make this day a thou sand times more wonderful to me?" he asked, eyes gleaming horrifically. 

Roxanne's eyes widened. Cries of joy and surprise and confuasion rang out from the crowd. She stared at Rick slack-jawed while he smiled back, fighting to keep a malevolent sneer of satisfaction off his face. She felt hundreds of eyes on her, cheering for her to say yes. Her professors all sitting out there, laughing and encouraging her to agree to Rick's loving offer. A bit of a sneer did finally reveal itself on Rick's face when Roxanne's eyes turned glassy. 

"Why are you doing this to me...?" she asked. 

"Whatever do you mean, love?" he replied, voice dripping with exagerated affection. 

"You know very well what I mean!" she couldn't help but scream, tearing her hand from his grasp. 

The entire hall fell silent, aghast. 

Rick stood up, feigning alarm. "Are... are you saying... no, Roxy..?" 

Roxanne glared at him, eyes brimming with all her restrained emotion. "Stop it." 

"And after all we've been through, how much I've cared for you..." he said, voice breaking. 

She heard the disapproving voices rise in the crowd. There. That was it. She could pinpoint the moment she'd been labeled an insensitive, ungrateful shrew. In two days Rick had successfully made it unbearable to show her face at her school and impossible to show at her old workplace. He had swiftly taken what was left of her reputation and shredded it to nothing but his own conjured lies. 

"God, Roxy, you told me you loved me..." Rick said, sorrowfully. 

"Why are you doing this?!" she shouted. "Wasn't getting me fired enough?" 

"I did it for you! Roxy, sleeping around for money is no way to live!" he announced, raising a few cries from the audience. 

Roxanne's eyes flashed. She swiftly slapped him across the face with enough force to send him stumbling backward. Before anyone could stop her, she turned on her heel and dashed out of the hall, nearly slipping and braking her neck on the marble floors of the hotel. She didn't stop to get the jacket she'd checked in at the door and flew to the security of her rickety red car, slamming the door as she settled into the driver's seat. 

She stood there, biting her lip a moment, anger swelling up inside of her. The first tear trickled down her cheek and she bit down harder on her lip until she drew blood to hold back a sob. Roxanne angrily rubbed at her eyes and turned the key in the ignition. The red car flew down the street, back towards her little apartment thirty blocks away. 

*

One twenty-seven. Roxanne wouldn't be home for another two and a half hours. Sirius returned his attention to the photo album he'd found on Roxanne's bookshelf. He usually wasn't this nosey, but there wasn't much he could do. Besides... it had just been sitting there, waiting to be found. He flipped to a page containing photos of a young, pretty girl at her grade school graduation, a prom, with an older man and woman who had to be her parents at the beach and a high school graduation picture. Sirius chuckled at a photo of Roxanne being affectionately attacked by two large sheep dogs, one of which he was sure had been called Snuffles in it's time. 

On the next page were more recent photos. One particular photo caught his attention before the others. Roxanne wasn't much younger than she was now, and was sitting on a park bench, leaning on the shoulder of a young man who had an arm around her. A large 'X' had been drawn on the photo in angry red ink. Sirius was glad he wasn't _that_ boy when he and his ex-girlfriend broke up. The next photo pictured Roxanne and three girls posing in Halloween costumes outside a Muggle night club, all grinning. Four friends, all happy, looking forward to a bright future... 

Sirius snapped the album shut. He remembered grinning for Lily's camera with his three best friends on more than one occasion, all of them happy and laughing and totally oblivious of how fast it would all be gone. He couldn't remember any of the happy times he shared with his friends while he was in Azkaban. The dementors took every pleasant, sane, precious thought you had and left you with all the pain and the guilt and regret and anger. All he'd been able to recall were the times he had fought with one of his friends or done them wrong. Of course he had plenty of time to dwell on the guilt he felt over switching the Secret-Keeper to Peter without telling anyone. Much of the blame, in his eyes, fell on himself for losing faith in Remus, thinking he had been the traitor when the man had been the only one who had been completely loyal to James and Lily to the very end. 

But he wasn't in Azkaban anymore. No, Sirius was slowly begining to remember the good things life had once held and it hurt more to recall than all the hateful, horrible, painful memories in Azkaban. It hurt because they were only memories and would never be anything more. He would never sit and laugh with James again, nor would he go off on another full moon adventure as Padfoot with Moony. He wasn't even the same person he'd once been, was he? He had always been so reckless and young and brazen. Now his vitality had been diminished and all that remained was pieces of a man that would never be whole. 

"No, I will be whole. I'll become who I was..." he assured himself, unconvincingly. 

Did he even look the same or was he only a ghost of the handsome, cheerful man he once was? Sirius set the photo album on the coffee table and headed into the bathroom. He walked up to the mirror over the sink somewhat reluctantly. Did he really want to see what Azkaban had turned him into? Twelve years, even spent free and content, could change alot. He forced himself to face his reflection. 

Sirius stood there a moment, letting his eyes travel over his face, comparing it to the vague memory he had of himself twelve years ago. His skin had gone slightly paler than what could be considered a healthy shade. His face was thinner than he would have liked, covered in a tangle of black hair around his chin and mouth. The hair on his head was less sightly and twice as long and knotted and unkept. His collarbones jutted out just a bit too far from under his ragged gray cloak. 

"This isn't me..." he whispered, seeing the vigorless image of himself. 

The thin frame, the ill look, the sunken eyes-- Sirius locked his gaze on the eyes of his reflection. The gray blue spheres shimmered as vividly as they had in his Hogwart's days, with twice the determination and, to his delight, recklessness. There was also anger and pain mingled with the other sentiments, but in those eyes, Sirius saw his true soul. He hadn't been lost. Sirius Black still existed as he had all those years ago, if not a little worse for the wear and wiser in ways he would have preferred to never learn. 

A grin crossed over lips hidden beneath a dark beard. He opened the medicine cabinet, a thought coming to his mind. On the three small shelves were a variety of Muggle pills, remedies, and dental care items, but also a hair brush, nail file, scissors, and a bag of disposable razors. Sirius eyed the latter two items, grinning a little wider. 

*

Roxanne stumbled over the last step in the apartment building, snapping her left shoes heels clean off. It rolled down the stircase, settling on a step where it could trip the next passer-by. But Roxanne didn't care now. She cursed and yanked off both shoes. 

"Stupid hundred dollar shoes..." she muttered, leaving them in the hall and walking to her front door barefoot. 

She turned the key in the lock and moodily slammed the door shut behind her after entering her home. Her handbag was promptly hurled across the room. _'I hate this... Why me? Why do I deserve this shit?'_ She dashed away her tears before they could fall, smudgeing her eye make-up to lead a little cloud of black under each eye. She had never been so humiliated in her entire life. She would never be able to go back to classes. Her professors wouldn't look at her. The students would torture her. Even less people would associate with her. It was over. All because of Rick's stupid little grudge... 

Roxanne put a hand to her head. 

"Great. A head-ache. Not that the sound of the damn shower is helping..." she muttered. 

She froze. The shower? Had she left her shower on in her rush to get to the hotel? The water could be heard clearly falling from the spicket in her bathroom. That was when Roxanne noticed the remains of a sandwich and her open photo album lying on her coffee table. An icy dread ran up her spine, making her hair stand on end. Someone was in her house. 

Roxanne dashed to her kitchen and snatched the phone off the hook to call the police. A dead beep was all that she heard from the earpiece. 

"What a time to not pay the phone bill..." she muttered, setting the phone back on the hook. 

It was in her hands now... Roxanne ran over to her counter and pulled the largest knife from her cuttlery set. She stood there for a moment, observing the fatal blade, doubtfully. Her conscience wouldn't let her use the weapon, but it was better to go in prepared than be caught totally defenseless. Roxanne solemnly walked towards her closed bathroom door, knife clutched in her right hand. 

*

Sirius let the warm shower water roll over his newly cut hair and clean shaven face. His dark lockes just about reached his shoulders, an improvement from the waist length mass of tangles it had been. He had promised himself all he would do was cut his hair and get rid of the abominable beard he'd grown, but it was too tempting not to take advantage of having a shower. He figured he had another two hours to kill until Roxanne retured anyway. He didn't even mind that all Roxanne's soaps smelled like green tea or chamomile. 

He closed his eyes and let out a content sigh. He'd missed being able to do the normal, routine activities he once took advantage of. Now being able to step into a shower or look in a mirror or read a book were cherished privileges. And after he found Peter and proved his innocence, he could do those things whenever he wanted for the rest of his life... 

Water suddenly ceased to fall onto Sirius's face. _'Damn, did Roxanne skimp paying her water bill...?'_ He opened his eyes and found that the faucet knob had been turned to the off position. He wondered if this was some Muggle invention a few moments until a white, fluffy mass fell over his head. Sirius nearly slipped on the slick surface of the tub as he yanked the towel off of his head. 

"Put on the towel and get out of the shower," came Roxanne's voice. 

Sirius paled five shades when he saw the shadow of the woman through the shower curtain and knew his plans might not go as smoothly as he had originally planned... 


	4. Chapter Four

_Disclaimer: Love ya, J.K.R. Not stealing, just borrowing. _

Chapter Four 

Roxanne tightened her grip on the kitchen knife, as she waited for her burglar to step out of the shower. She saw his tall shadow through the curtain wrapping the large towel around his waist. The curtain was pushed aside to reveal a tall, lanky man with soaked long black hair hanging from his head, hiding his face. Roxanne noticed the intruder was a bit on the thin side, ribs visible through his pale skin but didn't take that as a sign of weakness. She also noted the thin, but still muscled arms connected to that lean chest. 

It was about now that she realized she was a bit frightened, well, frightened enough to not know what to say to this stranger. 

"You're back two hours early..." he said, breaking the silence. 

"What...?" Roxanne asked, alarmed. 

Sirius tensed a bit, realizing that may not have been the best thing to say. Roxanne narrowed her eyes at him, trying to figure out how he could possibly know she had planned on arriving at four and not two? Something dawned on her. 

"Did that bastard Rick send you?" she asked, spitting the mans name like a curse. "Didn't he think humiliating me in front of hundreds of people today was enough? He had to send someone to ... to... what was it he told you to do? Kill me? Beat me? Scare me? Rape me? Please, stop me if I'm getting warmer." 

"No, no... Rick didn't send me..." he assured, wincing at the accusations she made. 

"Then you came up here of your own will? How did you get in?" she demanded, feeling braver with her anger. 

Sirius was silent. "I..." 

He raised his eyes to look at Roxanne's angry face, unable to think of a response. That was when he noticed her bleeding lower lip, her puffy eyes, her smeared eye make-up. She'd been... crying? Sirius felt a spark of anger in his chest. 

"That bastard..." he suddenly hissed, causing Roxanne to jump in surprise. "He hit you, didn't he?" 

"What? Who hit me? What the hell are you raving about?" she asked, confusion making her aching head pound. 

"Your lip is bleeding. Rick hit you," he said, sure of his assumptions. 

As he spoke he moved a hand forward to take her chin and get a look at the injury. Roxanne backed up, raising the deadly kitchen utensil in her hands, eyes wide. 

"Keep your hands to yourself," she snapped. 

Sirius let his arm fall back to his side, frowning. She'd be nicer if she knew he was 'Snuffles'. Roxanne observed him for a moment. 

"Are you homeless? Did you break in because you needed food and shelter?" she asked, reprovingly. "There are places that would be more than happy to help you, you know. How did you get in? Oh, God, you didn't break one of my windows did you? How am I going to pay for a damn window...?" 

"I didn't break anything," he muttered, trying to think of what to tell her. 

"Then how did you get in? And who are you?" she repeated. "Listen, if you don't answer me I'm calling the police." 

"..." Sirius gave a sigh. "Could I get dressed first? I rather not be standing here in a towel, dripping wet while I explain. Besides... the air conditioner has been on full blast all day and this thing doesn't offer much warmth." 

Roxanne slightly flushed. It was a bit uncomfortable with him standing there in a towel. 

"How do I know you won't escape through the window when I leave you to dress?" she asked, coolly. 

"Then don't leave if it suits you better. What do I care if you watch?" he asked, reaching down to pick up a bundle of ragged black cloth. 

"I-I'll turn my back..." she said, facing the opposite way as her flush deepened. 

She heard the shower curtain close and realized he was dressing in the concealment of the shower rather than behind her turned back. She turned around when she heard the curtain pushed open and watched the man step out of the tub clad in a dirty, shapeless black garment, hair still dripping puddles on the floor. Sirius noticed her still slightly pink face and couldn't hold back a small smirk. With that grin on his face, the stranger stirred a memory up in the back of Roxanne's mind. This wasn't the first time she was meeting this person... He was familiar, but she couldn't quite place him. 

She led him into the living room, watching him carefully. They sat at opposite ends of her little couch, facing one another. Roxanne still had the knife grasped in her right hand, a little uneasy with the situation. Sirius saw Roxanne look at a spot on her couch and followed her gaze to where his wet hair was splashing onto the upholstry. 

"Sorry," he said, looking at her, apologetically. 

"Talk," was her short reply. 

Sirius frowned. Obviously the old Black charm had been affected by his years in Azkaban, too. He wasn't exaclty sure how he was going to explain to her that he was an Animagus or why he was running around as a dog when he was actually a human. She was too intellegent to deceive and eventually she'd notice Snuffles was missing. 

"You know that dog you found in the park...?" he began weakly, knowing revealing even a little bit of the Wizarding world to a Muggle wasn't a very good idea. 

"Snuffles?" she asked, realizing she hadn't seen him since entering her house. 

He flinched at the sound of the name. "Yes, _Snuffles_." 

She whistled. "Here boy! Come here, Snuffles!" 

Nothing. No trod of padded feet or sound of something being knocked off a table by the dog's wagging black tail. Roxanne paled. 

"Sn-snuffles? Come here!" she shouted, a bit more firmly. She reared on Sirius violently. "What did you do with my dog, you git?!" 

"Nothing, nothing! Just listen a moment!" he told her, brushing his hair off his face and out of his eyes. 

Roxanne opened her mouth to shout a retort when her gaze locked onto the man's gray-blue eyes. She froze as recognition clicked. Her anger faded and was replaced by surprise. Sirius sat there, confused, unsure of the reason she'd stopped verbally attacking him. A bitter grin flitted across her lips. 

"It's hard to forget eyes like yours, Sirius Black," she told him. 

Sirius jumped at the sound of his own name leaving her lips. He looked at her, trying to figure out if she was going to dive for the phone and call the police or just stab him to death herself. Roxanne didn't seem to think twice on either of those choices. She sat back, relaxing a bit, to Sirius's further puzzlement. 

"Don't remember me?" she asked, raising a brow. 

He shook his head, still trying to find words. 

"I suppose that makes sense seeing as you were being dragged away by the police at the time. I still don't understand why you stood there laughing like a mad man when you could have run," she said. 

"You were... there?" he whispered, mouth suddenly dry. 

"I was almost twelve and I was standing right behind that rather chubby blond man you were yelling at," she told him. "Do you know why no one believed you were innocent?" 

Sirius scowled. "I have a good idea." 

"All of the people who witnessed the murder were standing behind you. To them it probably looked alot like you had done it. All of the people standing behind the blond man on the other side saw what really happened, but unfortunately for you, they all died. Except me." 

Sirius's eyes widened. "What are you saying?" 

"I saw it. I saw that man use whatever weapon killed all of those people. It was a sort of stick, right? It shot out sparks, but I was so short when I was eleven that they flew right over my head. I saw it," she told him. "What happened after is the reason I have the reputation I do..." 

Roxanne raised a trembling hand to her cheek and her stomach twisted into knots when she felt warm, sticky liquid splashed there. She held her reddened fingertips out in front of her face, horror stricken. Blood. Blood._ Not her own, either. The eleven year old's wide eyes surveyed the scene she stood in the center of. There were at least a dozen bodies sprawled on the ground, blood-stained and all wearing shocked, grim expressions on their still faces. And there was a finger. A human finger lying in the center of it all where the blond man once stood. Something scurried past her feet. She looked down to see a pudgy gray rat clamor by her frantically. Usually she would have scremaed or jumped away from it, but the disgusting creature didn't quite compare to the horror she had just witnessed. _

She looked up when the first scream broke out. All the men and women standing behind the tall, handsome, dark-haired man scattered, shouting and sobbing. But he stood there, staring at the scene before him with an expression similar to the one on Roxanne's face. She saw a black and red stick clutched in his left hand and recalled the blond man using a yellow and green one to murder the people standing around her. For a moment, Sirius Black's eyes met Roxanne Callisto's and that moment burned into her memory forever. 

"Are... are you alright?" she asked him in a shaking vocie. 

His lips twitched at the question. A low rumble escaped his mouth. Roxanne took two steps towards him, confused. Her mind was in a daze. he must be half-delirious, since he seemed to know the man who had killed all those people around her. She stopped moving forward when Black broke out into uncontrollable, fitful laughter. And he stood there amid all the death and destruction and laughed. Roxanne felt a wave of sympathy for the man. She began to walk towards him when a group of strangely clad men ran over to the scene of the murder, looking grim. One of the men immediately went over to her. He knelt beside her, looking over her in concern. 

"Are you alright?" he repeated the question she gave Sirius. 

"I'm... I'm better than the rest of them..." she murmured, the event that had occured not yet sinking in completely. "What about him? I think he needs to see a doctor..." 

"Sirius Black?" he snorted. "There aren't any doctors where he's going. Don't worry and be glad you're still alive, miss. Black is being taken to pay for murdering these people." 

"For what?" she asked, alarmed. 

Roxanne looked past him and sure enough, three men were trying to bind Black's hands as he doubled over in his inane laughter. They thought he did it. The girl cried out and dashed right by the man beside her and attached herself to the green robes of one of the men trying to restrain Sirius. 

"No no no! You don't understand! Leave him alone!" she cried. 

"Filmore, will you get this kid away?" the man grumbled. 

"He didn't do it! I swear, he didn't do it! I saw the blond man do it!" she tried, desperately. 

The man called Filmore scooped her up. "Take it easy on her, John. She's the only survivor. She's been through alot today. Poor thing doesn't know what she's saying." 

Roxanne struggled madly against Filmore as the three men began to drag Black away, still laughing and chortling as if he'd broken his funny bone. But no one listened to what she said. Black was taken away and all the screaming Roxanne did couldn't save him now. By then, everything had begun to sink into her mind and she broke down completely. The police managed to get her parents' work phoen numbers out of her and have them come to get her. Detectives and men in green and black cloaks came and asked her questions and she told them all the same thing. Black hadn't done it. He was innocent. It was the blond man. No one she told seemed satisfied with the answer, especially sicne there was nothing left of the 'blond man' who she had been informed was named Peter Pettigrew. They kept asking. They wanted her to say the same thing everyone else had. Yes, sir, Black did it. he killed those people and Pettigrew. And that's the truth. 

The memories after that were blurred and she had been told she passed out within two hours of the murders and didn't wake until the next afternoon. 

Sirius sat there, mind somewhat numb, after hearing her account of the day that changed his life. Why couldn't he remember? He always had a vague recollection of there being someone else there that day, but he had neevr been able to recall who. 

"I felt guilty that I had let them take you. I wrote letters to organazations, attempted to gain support, tried to send essays to the papers. No one wanted to hear it and I was getting a worse and worse reputation. I stopped when I was sixteen, when people began to harass my family for my beliefs," she sighed. 

Silence fell between the two. Roxanne observed Sirius with a slightly grim look on her eyes. 

"I was young and in a bit of shock when all those people fell dead around me twelve years ago. Maybe I did imagine Pettigrew as the one who killed them, maybe you did do it. Maybe I am sitting alone in my apartment with a murderer on the couch next to me," she began. "I could easily call the police or kill you myself, couldn't I?" 

Sirius eyed the knife still clutched in her right hand. "You could." 

"Or... I can be as unrational as I've been all my life and say this," she resumed. "You have two choices here, Black. You can either sit there and answer some of my questions at the risk of my deciding you deserve to be turned in---" 

Roxanne took his hand and put the handle of the knife in it, closing his fingers around the grip. She sat back, a bit overly casual for the words she spoke next. 

"---or you could kill me and take the easy way out," she finished. 

Sirius paled as the words left her lips, realizing the reason the knife was now in his hand. He threw it down at the coffee table as if physical contact with it burnt him. He was a little overenthusiastic as he did this and the glass panel in the coffee table shattered from the force the knife struck it. Roxanne groaned and put a hand to her face. 

"Couldn't you have just killed me...? That table is from a rent-a-center..." she muttered. 

"Are you mad?" he had to ask. 

"Look at the pot calling the kettle black," she mused. "I had to know if I was safe alone in here with you or not. Now you'll be answering me a few questions. Firstly, what happened to Snuffles?" 

Sirius shifted in his seat. "I can't tell you." 

Roxanne cocked a brow. "You can't tell me." 

"No." 

"Ah." 

Silence fell between the two. Roxanne sighed, looking over the shattered remains of her coffee table. She had owed another hundred and fifty dollars on the table. She had planned on returning all her rented furniture since she could no longer afford the monthly bills. Now she would have to finish her payments on a table she'd never be able to use. That wasn't really the foremost thought in her mind, though. When a supposed murderer tells you he can't tell you what happened to your pet dog, you begin to suspect the worst. 

"...Did you kill my dog?" she had to ask. 

"No," he replied, to her relief. 

"Then where is he?" she demanded. 

"..." 

"Damn it, Black! As pathetic as it sounds, that dog is all I have!" 

Sirius cursed under his breath. He couldn't do this to her. All the time spent in Azkaban hadn't driven away his humanity nor his conscience. Sometimes having a conscience wasn't necessarily a good thing... 

"I'm afraid Snuffles is no ordinary dog, Roxanne," he muttered, 

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You know my name." 

"I know more than your name," he mused, sighing. "I really shouldn't be showing you this, but I suppose I owe you alot and I'll soon owe you more." 

"What are you talking about?" 

"Just watch and... try not to be too alarmed, alright?" 

Roxanne decided to give her attention to whatever revelation he had for her. She made a gesture as if to say 'Well, go on,' looking at Sirius pointedly. The man sighed and stood up. Roxanne gasped as he began to change before her eyes. He seemed to get smaller, hunching over then in a flash he wasn't a human at all, but a large shaggy dog. Snuffles hesitantly waged his tail at his 'owner', looking a bit sheepish. Roxanne stared at the dog, wide eyed and slack jawed. She'd just witnessed a man turn into a dog. Into _her_ dog, no less. She made a choking sound, trying to form words. 

The dog suddenly changed back into a man, watching Roxanne apprehensively. She stood up, taking three steps backward from him. 

"Wh-what are you??" she asked. 

"I'm not much different than you are, believe it or not," he told her, sitting back down. 

"A little more different than you seem to think, Black! I can't turn into a dog or cat or horse or anything else, for that matter!" she exclaimed. "And I---" 

She froze a moment when it hit her. Sirius winced as he saw the look of shock and confusion on her face fade into anger. He had expected such a reaction once she put two and two together and realized if he had been Snuffles, than he had been living with her for a little less than a week. She began to take steps forward rather than backward now. 

"I fed you and sheltered you and, and _bathed_ you and told you things I would have never confided to anyone and the whole time you just sat there, wagging your tail, and let me!" she accused, voice growing increasingly violent. "Not even my parents know about my... my..." 

"Powers?" he helped. 

"Yes!" she hissed. 

"What would you have liked me to do? Turn into a man in front of you, and say, 'Hey, my name's Sirius Black, could I stay here for a while? I'm trying to hide from some people trying to put me back in prison.'?" he retorted. 

She gave an aggravated sigh and flopped onto the couch beside him. Sirius let out a similar sigh. Roxanne looked up at him, cheeks slowly becoming a slight pink tint. 

"You didn't.... you know, see anything, did you?" she asked, quickly. 

"What do you mean?" he asked, not quite understanding. 

"... Did you watch me while I was in the shower or getting dressed, Black?" she blurted in the bluntest way possible. 

The man face faulted. "NO!" 

"Well, I had to ask! Don't act so offended!" she snapped, cheeks flushing a bit deeper. 

Roxanne sat back, somewhat relieved at knowing her privacy hadn't been completely invaded. With such frivilous matters aside, she concentrated on the big picture. Sirius Black, supposed murderer and madman, was hiding out in her apartment as a large black dog named Snuffles. There were at least seven issues in that one statement that could have Roxanne in jail or comitted to an asylum. She let her gaze rest on the man before her, who was eyeing the broken coffee table somewhat guiltily. 

"I could be locked up for having you here," she mused. "They'd probably find a way to pin your escape on me, as well." 

"I'd like to see them try," he snorted, standing up. "But the Muggles could put you away for a couple years, so I'll leave." 

"Muggles?" she repeated, cocking a brow. "And sit down. If you wanted to leave you should have killed me when given the option. Now you're stuck here." 

Sirius shook his head. "I can't. If they figure out I'm here you're in more danger than you think." 

"Well, where are you planning on going, then?" she asked. 

"...London," he replied, brushing his stil wet hair out of his eyes. 

"And I suppose you'll just waltz up to the train station and buy yourself a ticket?" 

"I won't need a ticket." 

"Ah. Then you won't need food or shelter or clothing either?" 

"Don't worry about it." 

"But I do." 

"You won't have to anymore." 

He made to walk past her, but she grabbed his hand with both of hers. Sirius jumped at the touch, whirling around on the girl, scowling, though there was a look of surprise in his light eyes. Roxanne stared right back, stubbornly. 

"I can help you." 

"It's out of the question, Callisto." 

"Why? I can get you a train and meals and some decent clothes and---" 

"And look out for me?" he snorted. "You don't realize what you're getting into. Look, I can't risk having you along. If they find me, I won't be the only one to be sent away. You provided for me these past few days and that's enough on your part. Just finish out college and make a life for yourself, alright? You're bright enough to---" 

"You don't get it, Black!" she exclaimed, yanking him down to the couch. 

He was surprised at the amount of force she exerted to pull him and nearly toppled forward onto her. 

"There's nothing here for me. I don't belong here anymore than you do," she said, voice becoming quieter, as an almost regretful bitterness set into her eyes. "I couldn't survive here if I did, either. No job, no friends, I can't show my face at the university... People hate me, Black. Really, truely hate me. And I hate what's happening to me here. I don't care if once I go with you I can't turn back. Do you understand me yet...?" 

Sirius sat back beside her, slowly. The path she was about to choose wouldn't be an easy one. She didn't realize that he wasn't just planning on hiding. She didn't understand that he was out to commit the crime that landed him in Azkaban, to avenge his friends and his lost years. She could be killed or worse, a dementor could get to her. Then again... she was right. She didn't belong here. Not among Muggles. Roxanne had magic in her, even if it was in an unrestrained, uncontrollable form that could cause her more damage than good. 

An idea began to form in Sirius's mind. Perhaps he didn't have to take her to the very end with him. He could let her come along then leave her in good hands to learn to use her abilities and become a part of the Wizarding society. Looking into her eyes, he knew for certain that he couldn't leave her here. This was her Azkaban. She was being drained of all her cheer and hopes and confidence and being left with all the cruel, fearsome things. They both needed their freedom. 

"How about I stay the night and we can decide in the morning?" he finally said. "That is, unless you rather I not sleep under the same roof as you. I could understand---" 

"No, no. You had a hundred opportunities to do whatever I could have fears of," she reasoned. "You're still soaked. There's a hairdryer in my room to use. Are you hungry? You look it. I---" 

"Roxanne," he stopped her. 

She looked to him. 

"I'm fine. But I have one question before I go use that... hair dryer... you mentioned," he said, speaking the word 'hair dryer' as if it were foreign. 

"What's that?" 

"...Why did you call me _Snuffles_?" 


	5. Chapter Five

_Disclaimer: Love ya, J.K.R. Not stealing, just borrowing. _

Chapter Five 

Sirius Black rolled onto his side, arm hanging over the side of the mattress. His mind was at the half-way point between slumber and consciousness, but he could still hear the busy movement of Roxanne in the kitchen. A particular scent found it's way to his nose a moment later. Sirius grinned sleepily at the smell of home-made waffles, eggs, crisp bacon, and freshly brewed coffee. One of Lily's specialties. Yes, that was it. That was Lily in the kitchen downstairs, preparing one of her generous breakfasts for her husband and friends. The last twelve years had simply been some God awful nightmare, a horrible product of staying up too late with Prongs and Moony and eating spicy foods in the wee hours. Soon he'd sit up in bed and find James and Remus grinning at him. Prongs would make a comment like, 'Glad you could join us, Mattress King. Have a nice beauty sleep?' to which Remus would add something along the lines of, 'Of course he did. He was the only one able to sleep through his own snoring'. Then they would have a laugh and go have breakfast together, just like old times. 

The man forced his eyes open, excitement burning in his chest. But neither James or Remus were there to greet him. All he saw was a Muggle digital clock reading ten after ten in harsh red lights. It hadn't been a nightmare. The excitement faded into a dull pain. James and Lily were dead. Sirius had been framed and spent the last twelve years of his life in no conditions that could be deemed living. Peter was free. Remus was off hating Sirius somewhere, alone. Everything was the opposite of how it should be. A deadened feeling settled over Sirius at this depressign realization. 

It would never have be better. It had all been real, had all happened. Even if he did manage to kill Pettigrew and clear his name, James and Lily would still be dead. It wouldn't hurt any less than it did now or twelve years ago. It would never be the same. He'd had a wonderful life, a perfect life, and it had all been taken away, guiltlessly. 

Sirius sat up in Roxanne's bed, bitterly. She had insisted that he take her bedroom for the night and let her sleep on the couch. Now that he thought of it, he couldn't remember what exactly she had said to convince him to take up her offer. All he knew was that Roxanne could be a lawyer for persuading him and that he had just had the most comfortable sleep he'd had in twelve years. At least there was a bright side to waking up this morning. 

With a yawn, he shoved aside the bedsheets and stood up. Sirius stretched until his back gave a satisfactory pop and headed toward the door. On the way he caught a glimpse of himself in Roxanne's wall mirror and couldn't help but grin a bit. 

_Don't I look like the menacing murderer?_

In fact, there was currently nothing threatening about Sirius's attire, unless you were afraid of bad fashion statements. Roxanne had lent him some of her oversized sleep attire to wear instead of his old, ragged cloak. Sirius hadn't really looked at them before pulling them on and falling unconsciously onto the bed. He was clad in a pair of flannel drawstring pants, bearing a red and green plaid design. Though the legs only reached to an inch or two above his ankles, they were wide enough to avoid cutting off any circulation. Clashing perfectly was the green tee he had been given to wear, donning a rather chubby black and white panda bear with the words 'Save Our Wildlife' scrolled beneath it in gray lettering. The sleeves were a bit snugger than Sirius would have liked and the shirt only came to a few inches below his waist, whereas it nearly reached Roxanne's knees. 

Sirius shook his head, chuckling. With his long hair he looked more like a fervent environmentalist than a dangerous convict. He felt the bad mood that he'd nearly settled into lifted from his chest as he left the bedroom. The smell of coffee again greeted him, piquing his appetite. 

He walked into the living room, bare feet comfortably padding against the rather worn carpeting. He stopped a moment, looking around. Something was missing... Of course. He'd broken the coffee table. The shattered remains had been cleared away, leaving a vast, vacant space between the couch and entertainment system. Guilt sparked within him as he realized the dent he'd probably put on Roxanne's already failing financial situation. He decided to pay her for the expenses if he ever cleared his mind and gained access to his Gringott's vault again. 

As soon as he entered the kitchen, Sirius found Roxanne flitting about the room, humming a tune to herself. He stood by the doorway. watching her a moment. _'Muggles do everything the hard way....'_ Sure enough, all the trouble Roxanne was going through at the moment between frying and toasting and brewing could all be accomplished in less than half the time with a wave or two of a wand. She piled the last waffle onto an already overflowing plate and set the whole thing on the kitchen counter. 

"Are you expecting guests?" Sirius finally made himself known. 

Roxanne whirled around in surprise, spatula grasped in her right hand, poised to attack. The moment her eyes landed on Sirius she burst into laughter. He grinned, walking over and taking the spatula out of her hand. 

"_You_ picked it out," he reminded, looking over the kitchen utensil, oddly. "What is this thing?" 

"What? You've never seen a spatula before?" 

"A _spatula_?" he snorted. "Muggles are all the same..." 

"Muggles...?" she inquired, raising a brow. 

He didn't reply to the question. "Are you expecting guests? There's alot of food here." 

Roxanne noticed his glaring avoidance of the topic, but let it go. For now. "As a dog you ate twice your weight in hot dogs. I figured you're a big eater." 

"Because my physique entirely supports that assumption..." he mummbled, hand momentarily running over his too-pronounced collar bone. 

The young woman looked a little flustered. She hadn't meant to make a point of his malnutritioned state. Sirius glanced up and saw her apologetic, worried stare. A small grin crossed his lips. 

"The food looks good. You didn't have to do this, Roxanne," he told her. "I'll help you carry it..." 

"Carry it where?" she mused. "I don't think the coffee table would do us much good in its current state. Besides, I don't feel like digging it out of the trash. Pull up a seat, Black. We'll have to use the counter." 

Roxanne gestured to a few folding chairs leaning against the kitchen wall. They each took their own and sat down to their breakfast. Roxanne poured herself a glass of orange juice and lifted her fork. She filled her plate with a waffle, a fried egg and two peices of toast and started on her meal. She happened to glance over at Sirius and did a double take. The man sat there, staring at the fork she'd given him in a sort of amazement. Roxanne felt slightly disturbed yet at the same time sympathetic, by the sight of him looking at the utensil as if he'd never seen anything quite like it in his life. Another thought occured to her. What kind of person doesn't know what a spatula is? Or how to work a television, as Sirius had off-handedly mentioned nearly smashing her remote to bits trying to 'work that bloody picture box', for that matter? 

"...Is everything okay?" she asked quietly. 

Sirius jumped, startled out of his thoughts. He looked at Roxanne, brows raised. "What?" 

"I said is everything okay, Sirius?" she repeated, eyeing the fork in his hand. 

The man realized what he had been doing and flushed a bit. "Fine..." 

He quickly averted his eyes from Roxanne's gaze and helped himself to some food. Embarassment welled up within him. How long had he sat there, staring at his fork like an idiot? It had just been such a long time since he'd been able to use one. At Azkaban he had been lucky if they remembered to toss him some food, no less a fork or spoon or napkin. Who would have ever thought there would be a day when Sirius Black, the same bold, rebellious, reckless young man who had once earned himself a name as a great Auror, would be amazed by a common kitchen utensil? The effects of Azkaban had run deeper than he would ever know... 

Unknown to him, Roxanne was again staring at him. This time it was with surprise and not uneasy sympathy. He had begun to plow away at his breakfast, not very unlike he had in his canine form. A small smile tugged at her lips and she returned to her own plate. She was glad to see him eat so heartily. He really was too thin to be very healthy. She remembered seeing though ribs jutting out just a couple centimeters too far above the white towel he had had wrapped around his waist. 

Some minutes later, she cleared away the empty plates, happy to find not a scrap of food had escaped Sirius's appetite. She began to rinse and scrub the plates at the sink, as she had never invested in a dish-washer due to her financial situation. Sirius remained quiet, sitting in his folding chair a few feet behind Roxanne's turned back. She smiled a bit. She should probably be at least a little concerned about having her back to an escaped convicted murderer. Setting a plate on the dish rack to dry, she wondered how many other people would be as calm as she was in the same scenario. 

She glanced over her shoulder at said convict. Sirius sat there, looking at nothing in particular, though there was a strange, deep emotion in his light eyes. _'Sometimes he can look so pensive and grim. He wasn't _as_ grim when I saw him twelve years ago. I wonder if he's ever been happy...'_ That last thought bothered Roxanne. She didn't like the sadness in the man's eyes. She didn't want to believe her last speculation could be true. 

"So..." she said as casually as she could manage. "Have you decided yet?" 

Sirius looked up at her, once again jarred out of him thoughts. "Decided?" 

"You know. About me tagging along with you," she reminded. 

"Ah, that," he muttered, sitting upright in the folding chair. 

Sirius had given that alot of thought since their conversation the prior night. Roxanne had done him nothing but good since he came across her. She was one of the more decent people he'd met in his life, not to mention the only person who believed he was innocent. The last thing he wanted was for harm to befall her and the path he was taking was a dangerous one. On the other hand, it wasn't right to leave her here when she so obviously didn't belong in this world. Roxanne was brought up a Muggle, taught to think, act and believe as her 'fellow' Muggles. Despite all of it, she still maanged to retain a bit of her true self. There was magic in her, without a doubt. She should know at least what she was... 

"Well?" Roxanne pressed, wiping her hands off on a dry cloth, having finished the dishes. 

"Well..." Sirius sighed. "I've decided its up to you. I'm sure having you along would benefit me, but I'm not sure how the good and bad weigh in your favor. You should know all the facts before you make a choice, in any case." 

"I'm all ears," she said. 

"You'll have to do more than hear what I tell you, Roxanne..." the man told her, frowning. "You'll have to believe and you may find that a little much to ask of you." 

"Ah. I see," she said, tossing the towel aside. 

Roxanne sat in the folding chair beside Sirius, setting her green gaze on him. 

"Try me." 

He eyed her a moment, hiding his surprise. She looked rather determined to be open to whatever he had to say. That stubborn nature reminded him of someone he'd known a long time ago. A smirk almost broke out on his face when he realized he was reminded of his younger self. Sirius sought a way to begin to explain magic to a Muggle-raised stubborn young woman. 

"Everything you think you know isn't all there is," he said, doing his best not to cringe at the drama dripping off the statement. "You've been raised to believe that fact is fact, reality is reality and there's nothing else. Everything else you can dream up is a fairy tale or a lie. the truth is that half the things Muggl-- people dream up exsists." 

Roxanne showed no signs of comprehension at his vague allusions. Sirius decided to be a little more blunt. 

"There is such a thing as magic, no matter what you've been told," he said, firmly. "There's a whole other world aside from the one you live in. There's a society built on the existance of magic, just as yours is built on the ignorance of it. I guess you could call it the Wizarding world." 

The young woman stared at him a moment. Sirius looked back, waiting for a response. Roxanne blinked a couple times, wordlessly. Her face turned into a decided angry scowl. 

"This is your big revelation?" she snorted. "Geez, Black, if you're so against me coming along just tell it to me straight!" 

"I told you you wouldn't believe me," Sirius sighed, frustrated. 

"Of course I don't believe you. Unlike youself, I'm sane." 

He rolled his eyes. "I can turn into a dog because of magic, Roxanne. In the wizarding world, people like myself are called Animagi." 

"Yea, well, we have a few choice words for people like you in this world, too." 

That's it. His patience disappeared. "Fine. I'm crazy. All those years cooped up in a dark cell drove me nutters. Everyone else believes it. Maybe they have a point. Since I'm so mentally unbalanced, maybe _you_ could give a logical explanation for my ability to turn into your precious Snuffles?" 

It wasn't very often that Roxanne Callisto was struck speechless. She usually had quite a few opinionated words on any given subject. At the moment she could think up neither a retort or an answer to Sirius's question. There _was_ no logical reasoning to a man being able to turn into an animal. Her eyes narrowed at him. 

"I don't know why you can do what you do, but I'm beginning to think you are a bit off your rocker. There's no such thing as magic, Black. As much as you and millions of other delusionals on this planet like to tell themselves, this _is_ all there is..." 

The last staement was said in a sort of sad tone, even though her expression was stern and decided. Sirius shook his head a little. 

"We both know you don't believe that," he said, seriously. "Part of you is knows I'm right and has always known." 

Roxanne seemed to weaken a little in her resolve. "Prove it." 

"Alright. How about you? Those powers you have aren't just some phase. That's magic, Roxanne," he told her. 

"It can't--- wait. Are you telling me I'm a ... a _wizard_?" 

"Women are witches, not wizards," he replied casually. "And yes, that's what I'm saying." 

"But--" 

"There's alot of potent magic inside of you. You just haven't been taught to harness it yet. Once you learn that, I have no doubt that you'll be an excellent witch." 

A small, desperate laugh escaped her lips. "This is crazy..." 

"Oh, come _on_, Roxanne! You know I'm right! You know it," he exclaimed. 

Roxanne stared at him, feeling a head ache coming on. She couldn't deny how much she wanted to believe every word he was telling her. All her life she felt like she had been misplaced in the grand scheme of things, that the life she was doomed to lead as an outcast wasn't the one she was meant to have. She'd always hoped that one day she'd get a chance to escape and live the life she dreamed. But such thoughts were childish, she'd been told. To survive in the world she had to face reality. But to believe Sirius Black meant that his words _were_ reality. 

Other thoughts came to her head. What if he was just lying to her to get her to come with him? What if he wasn't innocent and was just taking advantage of Roxanne's notions that he was? The girl allowed herself to look directly into his eyes. He didn't look away. There was nothing sinister in those depths, nothing malicious towards her. For one reason or another, Roxanne truely felt like she could trust him. 

"Tell me more," she finally said, quietly. 

"That's more like it," Sirius said, relieved. "Now that you believe me, there are some things you should know about the state of the Wizarding world at the moment. Some years back, there was a dark wizard named Voldemort. No one could stop him. He had his mind set on killing every wizard who wasn't of pure blood." 

"Pure blood?" Roxanne cut in. 

"Pure blood means that person's lineage has no non-magical influence, meaning that the person has all wizard blood in them. I come from a pure blood family, unfortuneatly. Most of them are snooty gits with a superiority complex. There are also Half-bloods, which are wizards with non-magical influence or.. otherwise. For instance, a werewolf is comsidered half-blood. Then there are Muggles who have absolutely no magic in them whatsoever. Understand?" 

"Yea..." 

"Well, Voldemort wanted to purge the wizarding world leaving only his pure blood supporters. He had alot of people to help him with the dirty work, though. Groups of pure blood maniacs called Death Eaters would go around killing and following his order. This went on for quite a few years. It was horrible. You could go home and find your entire family murdered while you were gone... Its sort of like that Muggle guy in your World War II..." 

"Hitler?" 

"Yea, that crazy git. That's how Voldemort was. But he was stopped, eventually. He was defeated while trying to kill a boy named Harry Potter, who happens to be the son of my best friends..." 

Here Roxanne noticed Sirius turn grim. 

"James and Lily were his parents. They, myself and my two other best friends Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew all went to school together. We were one big family, especially since Remus and I had pretty lousy relatives. We were unseperable, all of us, but James and I were like brothers. It's a long story, so I'll sum it up. In the end, I did a few things I shouldn't have done, Peter betrayed us all and James and Lily died." 

When Sirius's eyes met Roxanne's she almost gave a gasp. The previous harmless nature in the blue orbs was now a searing murderous rage. 

"That's why I escaped Azkaban. I'm here to kill Peter," he said in an icy tone. 

"But I saw him die twelve years ago," she remembered. 

"No, you saw him turn into an Animagus and run away. He could turn into a rat, not that he needed to be an Animagi to do it..." he grumbled. "He got off scott free and I landed a decade and a half in Azkaban." 

Sirius sat back in his chair a moment, scowling. Roxanne waited for him to continue, wanting to hear more. She had no problem with him killing this Peter person. Were she in a similar situation, he'd have already been dead. 

"Travelling with me is the most dangerous thing to do next to travelling with Voldermort, at the moment. The whole wizarding world is on high alert. You see, I'm the first person to ever escape Azkaban. It's like a fortress in there, between the magical bindings all over the building and the.. the dementors..."

Here a shiver ran up the man, and a far away look came into his eyes. "That's what I'm afraid of happening. A dementor finding us and taking us both..." 

"Well, you got out of prison once. We can escape again, right?" Roxanne pointed out. 

"Which is exactly why they won't send us back to Azkaban. They'll worse than kill us..." he swallowed, a glimmer of fear in his eyes. "Dementors are... are horrible creatures. There's really no words to tell you. The only way you really understand is to be near one... They aren't human and they don't have any conscience. When they're around, all the happiness is sucked out of you. Any good thought you had to keep you sane was stolen. You forget the world you knew and who you were before Azkaban. All that's left is the bad thoughts, all your regrets and fears and hate... 

"But that's not the worst they can do to you. It's called the Dementor's Kiss. They suck your soul right out of you and leave you this lifeless shell. I saw one of their victims... They just walked around, nothing like they used to be, no words or thoughts or memories. God, there was nothing left---" 

He jumped a foot off his seat when Roxanne's hand took his into her own. Sirius hadn't even realized they had been trembling with the memories of Azkaban filling his mind. He looked away from her eyes in embarassment. _'Look at you shaking like a baby. They're not lurking just down the hall anymore, Black. They're miles away. Miles.'_ Another shiver passed through him. _'Not far enough...'_

"You must have some strength in you, Black," she whispered, looking over his rough, still slightly trembling hands. "You stood with those things for twelve years and you seem pretty sane to me. I don't think I could do it." 

"I knew I was innocent,' he told her. "It wasn't a happy thought, so they couldn't take it. That's the only reason I'm not a gibbering idiot locked up in Mungoes--- er...an asylum." 

"Still... I wish I was that strong," she said, thinking back on all the times she'd wanted to give up. "Well, I think that settles it. Going with you can almost ensure that I won't make it out of this alive." 

"You don't have to come, Roxanne," he said quickly, looking up at her. "I shouldn't have even hung around you this long. You've done more than---" 

"I'll do it," she stated. 

Sirius blinked. "What...?" 

"I rather die trying than never try at all," she said, grinning. "What I'm doing now isn't what I'd call living. I don't belong. No one wants me to belong. This is.. this is my Azkaban. If you leave me here you're as good as killing me." 

"If that's your decision..." he said, a little surprised. 

"And it is," she replied. "When do we leave?" 

"Well, as soon as you can." 

"Today then. Tomorrow rent's due and I refuse to spend another red cent on this place." 

"Fair enough," Sirius agreed. 

Roxanne smiled at him a moment. "I'll go get my things. Feel free to raid the fridge." 

She let go of his hands, stood up and went to her room. Sirius sat where he was a moment, thinking over what the girl was getting herself into. He gave a sigh and headed toward the refridgerator. 

The moment Roxanne stepped into her room a wide grin spread across her face. She was leaving! She was finally free of this place. She snatched a bag from a shelf on her wall and set it on the bed. Since she wasn't sure how long she would be gone, Roxanne decided to pack light but bare essentials. The first thing to go into the back were a few shirts, shorts, a pair of jeans, sneakers and a small jacket, just in case. It was the middle of July, so she didn't have to worry about being cold. After tossing in a few hygiene supplies, Roxanne lifted her mattress. Three wads of bills lay there. Ever since she found out her landlord could take money from her bank accounts if she was late of rent, she kept her own savings box. She tossed all of her money into the bag, along with her wallet containing her ID. 

Roxanne sat on her bed and looked around her room, wondering if there was anything else she would need. Her eyes fell on the phone sitting on her bedside burea and a pang of guilt hit her. She hadn't even thought of her parents when she decided to go off with Sirius. They would have eventually found out when her lamdlord realized she wasn't in her apartment. What would they have thought? She was murdered? Stolen? Ran away? She had to tell them. Reluctance took hold of Roxanne at the thought of phoning her parents and telling them about her current situation. 

No. A letter. Once she and Sirius were in a safe place, Roxanne would write a very long, detailed letter explaining to her parents what she had done. Telling them they may never see or hear from her again because she could be killed. A very long, impersonal letter... 

_'I don't think so.'_ Roxanne yanked the phone off the hook and dialed the familiar number to her parents' home. One ring. Roxanne tried to think of what she would tell them. How could she possibly explain...? Two rings. Someone picked up. 

"Hello?" came her mother's voice. 

Roxanne sat there with the phone to her ear, speechless. She couldn't do this. 

"Hello? Is someone there?" the voice repeated. 

She slammed the phone back on the receiver. 

"I can't do it..." she whispered to herself. 

But she had to. She just wouldn't tell them about what she planned to do. She'd make up a little story for the time being, just so she could say goodbye. Roxanne lifted the phone and redialed the number. This time her mother picked up right after the first ring. 

"Hello?" she asked again. 

"Hey mom," Roxanne greeted, trying to keep her voice normal and cheerful. She had a feeling she was failing at the attempt. 

"Roxy? Did you just call me a minute ago and hang up?" her mother asked. 

"Yea, that was me... Sorry." 

"Oh, Roxy, is everything alright?" came the typical concerned-parent-response. 

"Everything is fine. Listen, mom, I'm leaving Forgrove. Actually, I'm leaving England for a while." 

"What? Whatever for?" 

"Remember Simone? You know, my penpal from Russia? She arranged a visit to Russia for me. I figured nows a good time since the school year ended last week. Speaking of school, don't bother sending Forgrove anymore money. Its... its just not working. I'm going to take some time to find the right school, maybe closer to home." 

"Oh, it's not those two idiots, what's their names? Rick and ...Bob? John?" 

"Robert. And that's not the main reason, but it doesn't help. I just don't... I don't fit in here, mom." 

"Thank God for it, Roxy." 

"What...?" 

"Thank God that you're set apart. You're unique from all those people. Your father and I have always known you were something special. Meant for bigger things. If you feel you need a year to find the right place, take a year. If you feel two is necessary, take two. I have faith in your judgement, Roxy. You know best for yourself. If you ever do need help with a choice, I and your father are always here." 

"I.. I know, mom. Some choices I make in the near future you may not agree with, though..." 

"Well... I'll try to be open, won't I? Anyway, when are you leaving for Russia?" 

"This afternoon." 

"_This afternoon?_ Why didn't you call me sooner?" 

"Sorry, I was busy this week with rent and getting things together. Oh, and I'm leaving the apartment, too. Don't give Reckles another dime." 

"Don't worry about that, Roxy. You know how your dad is. If he can save a dime, he'll save two." 

Roxanne gave a laugh. "I know. Is dad there, mom?" 

"No, he left for a business trip yesterday." 

"Oh... well, tell him I love him when you see him. And I love you, too, mom. I know I say it, but.. but I really mean it. You two are saints for raising a kid like me." 

"Well then I can thank you when I go straight to heaven. I'll let you go, Roxy. It's already quarter after ten! Don't miss your plane! Call or write whenever you can, alright?" 

"I will. Bye mom." 

"Have a nice trip, Roxy! Love you!" 

Roxanne smiled a little as the phone hung up at the other end of the line. Her mother never could let someone else be the last to say goodbye. She set the phone on the receiver with a sigh. She felt better about her choice now that she'd said her goodbyes. Roxanne slung her bag over her shoulder and left her bedroom. 

"That was pretty quick packing for a woman," came Sirius muffled voice. 

The man walked into the living room munching on a red apple. He was still donning the panda bear shirt and plaid flannel pants she had given him to wear. 

"Maybe I should run to the store and buy you some clothes before we go..." she suggested. 

"Don't bother. I'll be Snuffles while we're out in public and try not to call me Sirius," he reminded, taking another bite of the fruit. 

"Are you sure? It'll take two days by train to reach London. We might---" 

"Train? One of the perks of being a wizard is free transportation." 

Her eyes widened. "Can you... _fly_?" 

He almost choked on his apple in his laughter. Sirius managed to swallow the fruit in his mouth. 

"Not without a broom, Callisto." 

She scowled. "You don't have to be sarcastic about it." 

"Watch me for a moment. Now you see me..." 

Roxanne watched the man, confused. Her confusion only grew when he vanished with a loud crack. She stared ahead of her, slack-jawed. Panic hit her. 

"Black?! Where are you? You did _not_ just leave me here! You son of a bit--" 

"Calm down, I'm right here!" 

Roxane jumped, startled, and whirled around to see Sirius standing behind her. He went over to her. 

"It's called Apparation. It's pretty dangerous if it's not done right, so I don't recommend trying to learn it right away." 

"But I can't... Apparate," she pointed out. 

"But I can. As long as I'm holding onto you you go wherever I transport us," he explained. 

"Is that... safe...?" she asked, not fond of the idea he was putting before her. 

"Considering your choice in travelling companions, I'm surprised safety is one of your concerns." 

"I'm taking that as a no." 

"Put it this way: whatever you do, don't let go of my hand and you'll be fine." 

She sighed. "Alright..." 

Sirius held out his hand to her. Roxanne paused a moment, then put her hand in his, sure to hold on tight. 

"I'm going to transform as soon as we get there. Follow me to the bank so you can change your money into wizarding money. I'd let you have mine, but my bank key is at my house..." he frowned at the mention of his home. "Well, here we go. Don't let go of my hand." 

Roxanne felt a strange tug at the pit of her stomach. She squeezed her eyes shut, suddenly wondering if she'd made the best choice. A loud crack rang in her ears and she was suddenly grasping air. An icy dread settled over her. Sirius's words repeated in her head: _'Whatever you do, don't let go of my hand.'_

Well, he'd just let go. 


	6. Chapter Six

Chapter Six 

Roxanne couldn't believe it. He'd let go. After all the things she had done for him in her life and he let go. What would happen to her? Would she be suspended between worlds or would she simply die? Or worse... What if she had never transported at all and would open her eyes to find herself in her living room, back in her ultimate nightmare. How could he betray her...? 

She nearly jumped out of her skin when a bark sounded at her right. Roxanne opened her eyes and found herself facing a chipped brick wall. What was this? She slowly glanced to her right to find a large black dog staring up at her. If she wasn't mistaken, she saw the animal make as close as a smug grin as it could as it sat there. 

"I thought you let go of me..." she said, then looked around. "Is this London...? Kind of shady, don't you think?" 

Sirius had brought them to what seemed to be a musty alley way. There was a dumpster against the far wall, a few of the bags of garbage scattered around the overflowing bin. The smell was almost as pleasant as the scenery. Roxanne hoped to God that this wasn't the place Sirius had meant for them to be taken. She looked over at the dog and he gave another bark. He began to walk towards the exit of the alley, Roxanne in tow after she remembered she was to follow him. 

Once they turned the corner of the alley, the scenery made a drastic change. Roxanne froze on the spot when she laid eyes on the new environment. It was a long, wide pathway lined with various shops and restaurants and galleries all selling the strangest things Roxanne had ever come across in her life. People crowded nearly every inch of the path, proving to be as odd and various as the stores. Most of them wore long robes, even in the heat of the summer, which Roxanne found a little impractical. Some donned pointed hats or scarves. Others carried broomsticks, birdcages and shopping bags. She was positive that this wasn't London. She'd visited London enough to be sure she wouldn't have missed this place. 

She felt a nudge on the back of her leg and looked down to find Sirius staring impatiently back at her. 

"Sorry, Snuffles..." she muttered, following the Animagus through the crowd. 

Roxanne allowed herself to peer into store front windows as she passed by. Flourish and Blotts caught her interest, as it was a magical bookstore. She swore she saw a store selling broomsticks, but owned it up to her current confusion about her situation. Sirius would have a lot of explaining to do. Olivander's Wand Shop stood out among the others since she recognized the wands in the window as the item Peter Pettigrew had used to kill all those Muggles twelve years ago. There were stores selling clothing, candy, various animals, caldrons and potion supplies. And those were only the items she could recognize. 

Sirius barked to bring her attention to the building before them. Roxanne looked up at the tall, white building as thought it looked a bit like a castle. Obviously, this was where she was to exchange her 'Muggle' money. She followed the dog up to the front door and did a double take at what she had mistaken for a rather grotesque statue. The creature had a rather cruel face, with a long, protruding nose, pointed ears and a set of beady, unreadable eyes. It looked at the dog beside Roxanne with a frown, then up at Roxanne with the same look. This was when she realized she had been gawking. She quickly averted her gaze. 

"Could you tell me where to exchange my er... Muggle money?" she asked quickly. 

It narrowed its eyes at her suspiciously a moment. "Inside. First counter to your right." 

"Thanks, mate," she replied, hurrying into the bank. 

Roxanne walked across the marble floors, black and white sneakers squeaking against the polished stone irritably. She turned to the first counter to her right and froze again. There was another one of those creatures standing there, looking at her expectantly. Roxanne shook off her surprise before she offended... whatever it was. 

"Umm I'd like to exchange some Muggle money," she said, forcing herself to look at it. 

"Very well," it croaked, peering over its glasses at her. 

The girl set her bag on the counter and sifted through its contents until she had the three wads of bills and her wallet in her hands. Roxanne neatly piled the bills together and handed them to the troll. 

"One moment, please," he droned, going into a room behind him. 

Roxanne glanced down at the dog sitting by her feet. Sirius looked back, wagging his black tail. He let out a yawn and had the gall to curl up into a ball by Roxanne's feet while she waited for a goblin to return with her money. The Animagus knew he would have a lot of explaining to do once he was in a place safe enough to transform. He thought Roxanne was handling all of this pretty well, considering he had forgotten to warn her about the trolls. 

A few minutes passed before the troll came back to the counter. He set two sacks before Roxanne and returned to what he had been doing before she arrived at the counter, as if she wasn't still standing there. Roxanne didn't mind. She rather the creature keep its beady little eyes off of her. Out of curiosity, she peered into one of the sacks. What she found was a confusing medley of gold and silver coins none of which she recognized. 

"Uh... excuse me, sir?" she asked the troll. 

It glanced up at her, annoyed. 

"You see, I'm new to the wizarding world and I don't know how the money system works here..." she said. 

"And?" it sniffed. 

"And I was hoping you weren't too busy to explain it too me," she finished. 

"Here," it said, tossing a brochure her way. 

"Thanks," she mumbled, putting the coin sacks in her bag and shouldering it. 

She looked over the brochure on the way to exit the bank, Sirius in the lead. On the front were the words: 

Gringotts 

_Enter, stranger, but take heed _

Of what awaits the sin of greed, 

For those who take, but do not earn, 

Must pay most dearly in their turn. 

So if you seek beneath our floors 

A treasure that was never yours, 

Thief, you have been warned, beware 

Of finding more than treasure there. 

Roxanne suddenly felt a little uneasy around the wicked black eyes of the creatures in the bank. She hastened her step until she and Sirius were out the bank and back among the crowds of the shopping center. The dog was still leading, so she took time the read the brochure. She skipped over the brief history of Gringotts on the first page and flipped through until she came to a chart displaying some of the coins she'd seen in the sacks. The gold one was called Galleons, the silver was Sickles and the bronzes were Knuts. Simple enough. 

Sirius stopped them in front of another building. This was a little friendlier than Gringotts, if not a bit shoddy and run down. A sign hung over the door reading 'Tourne's Crest Inn'. She walked up a small set of creaking wooden stairs and entered the Inn. The check-in room was small and smelled a little moldy to Roxanne's nose. Still, she assumed Sirius had a reason for choosing this place and headed up to the front desk. There was no one behind the desk, but a small gold bell sat atop the dusty wooden counter. Roxanne hit the bell once and nearly jumped out of her skin when a loud crack sounded after the ring. Out of the blue, a person appeared behind the desk. 

Roxanne had expected an old man, perhaps with one eye or one leg, to run an Inn like this. Her assumptions were dashed away by the appearance of a young man, not too far from her own age, as the operator of the check-in desk. 

"Can I help you, miss?" he asked, smiling brightly. 

A rather handsome check-in desk operator at that. "I'd like a room. For me and my dog, please." 

"Dog?" he repeated. 

The young man hadn't noticed Sirius sitting there beside Roxanne until she brought it to his attention. 

"Didn't see you there, boy. Big dog. What's his name?" he asked. 

"Snuffles," she replied. 

"Snuffles? That's an interesting name. Is yours as unique?" 

"Roxanne isn't a very unique name." 

"Neither is Will, but I get by. How long will you be staying here?" 

"Ah... one day for now," she decided. 

"Only one? Too bad," Will sighed. "I don't get many pretty girls working in here. It's my family's place and my father's gone sick the past week." 

"Sorry to hear that," she replied. 

"Six Galleons**, Roxanne," he tallied up. 

She once again dug through her bag until she picked out six large gold coins. She put them in Will's open palm, only to have him take her hand, letting the coins clatter onto the counter. Roxanne looked at him in surprise. 

"Couldn't you maybe stay a day longer? For free, my father won't have to know," he offered. "You seem nice and... I wouldn't mind getting to know you, Roxanne." 

Roxanne blinked at him. "What...?" 

"Please? Just dinner tonight, perhaps? Right here at Diagon Alley, nothing fancy, I swear," he pleaded. 

"I... I, uh, need some time to think about that one, Will. Could I perhaps have my key?" she asked in a quiet voice. 

"Right..." he sighed, letting go of her hand. 

Will grabbed a key ring off a nail on the wall and gestured for Roxanne to follow him up the stairs. They stopped at the second floor at one of the first doors. Will unlocked the door for her. 

"There's a key for your use on the bedside bureau," he told her. 

"Thanks," she replied, turning to go into the room. 

"Wait..." he said, setting a hand on her shoulder. 

Roxanne turned to the young man, one brow raised in question. 

"I'm sorry about how desperate I must have sounded downstairs. Please consider, Roxanne," he asked of her. 

He moved a step closer than was comfortable for Roxanne. Will jumped at the sound of a deep feral growl at his feet. He quickly backed away from Roxanne when he laid eyes on the large black dog, fur standing up on his back. One bark was all it took to send Will flying down the hall and running down the stairs. It wasn't too difficult to imagine him hiding behind the check-in desk. Sirius transformed into his human form as he walked into the room, scowling. 

Roxanne followed him in, closing the door behind them. "Thanks, Black. Are all wizards like that..?" 

"Not all them," he grumbled, sitting on the bed in his panda shirt and flannel pants. 

"Mind explaining what those things at the bank were?" she asked, setting her bag on the bedside bureau. 

"Trolls. They're the reason why Gringotts is the safest place in the world to keep your money," he replied. 

"I can see why," she said, remembering the poem on the Gringotts brochure. "Are we staying the night or something?" 

"Maybe. But first, you're going on a little shopping spree," he told her. 

"Shopping?" Roxanne repeated, brightly. 

"Without me, I'm afraid. I can't risk being seen too often. I don't want people to begin to notice a big black dog travelling around where there have been Sirius Black sightings," he grumbled. 

"How about a Muggle girl at the scene of the sightings?" Roxanne asked, frowning. 

Sirius looked up at her from where he sat. "I hadn't thought of that... Well, that won't be a very good link, seeing as you're not coming the full way with me." 

"What...?" 

"I can't take you to Hogwarts. It'll be hard enough hiding myself. Besides, that's where I'm most likely to be caught and I rather you be somewhere safer," he explained. "But we'll have a while before it comes to that. Don't worry about it for now. Focus on shopping. All girls like shopping, right?" 

Roxanne raised a brow at him. 

"Right..." Sirius said, thinking. "I'll write you up a list. You'll probably need a few things, too..." 

He opened the bureau drawer and found a quill next to a small half-empty bottle of black ink, but not a stitch of parchment. He tried the second drawer with similar results. Before he broke out into a stream of curses, Roxanne held out a piece of white paper she'd taken from her journal. Sirius took it with a grateful nod and began scrolling out a list of unusual supplies. 

"By the way, this is Diagon Alley. We're under London right now," he informed her. 

"That explains why I've never seen this place before," she sighed. 

"That and there's a few anti-Muggle magical bindings on the entrance," he added. "Here you go. I wrote the name of the store next to each item. If you see a group of wizards wearing hooded black cloaks, come back here as soon as you can manage. They could be Death Eaters or Dementors." 

"Right," she said, taking the slip of paper. 

"And, Roxanne?" 

"Hmm?" 

"Be... be careful, alright? I shouldn't be sending you out to do these things, but I can't risk someone from Hogwarts seeing me and---" 

"It's alright, Black. You didn't ask me along, I volunteered, remember?" 

"Yea," he sighed. "Don't talk to anyone if they tell you their name is Severus Snape." 

"Er... alright... I'll try to be quick," she said, grabbing the room key and walking out. 

Roxanne was sure to lock the door before she left. She wouldn't want Will or any of the guests at the Inn to walk in and find Sirius Black. Roxanne got as far as the check-in room before she remembered that Will was still lurking around. She peered into the room and found the young man sitting behind the desk, writing a letter to someone. As quickly as she could, Roxanne dashed past him and out the Inn door. 

The girl let out a deep sigh of relief as she headed down the Inn steps and returned to a bustling Diagon Alley. She took Sirius's list from her pocket and looked it over. 

men's black cloak, 

woman's black cloak, 

men's pants and shirt, 

men's shoes -- all from Ferryton's Outfitters 

Roxanne noticed there were sizes marked next to all the men's clothing, but nothing next to hers. She grinned when she found he had written a size, then hurriedly scribbled it out after thinking better of it. _Smart man._

gray unicorn-hair 8 1/2 inch wand 

buy yourself a wand, too -- Ollivander's 

Medical Essentials kit -- Ringle's Potion Supplier 

Daily Prophet - Flourish and Blotts 

Flourish and Blotts? Roxanne remembered seeing the store on the way to Gringotts. She was glad she would have a reason to go in. She had wanted to take a look at the magical book selections... Maybe she could teach herself a few spells when she had spare moments. She came to Ferryton's Outfitters before Flourish and Blotts, though, and went in. 

So far, everything appeared to be the same as your average clothing store, aside from the strange garments being sold. Roxanne went to work and headed over to a cloak rack. She spotted some men's cloaks and began to search for a black one in Sirius's size. 

"The women's cloaks are on the left of the store, deary," came a sugary voice. 

Roxanne turned around to find a tall, blond witch smiling at her with unnaturally white teeth. Her lavender pointed hat was set on her head on an angle to match her flowing lavender robes. Roxanne sincerely hoped her cloak didn't resemble the flower garment the sales-witch donned. 

"Oh, I know. I'm looking for my.. er.. husband..." she lied. 

"Your husband?" the witch asked, surprised. "Are you newly weds?" 

"Yea, three weeks," she stretched the lie. 

"Really? I have something that would interest a newly wed couple. Follow me, please." 

Roxanne followed the witch, mentally kicking herself. Why had she said husband? She could have said brother, friend, boss, cousin, nephew, uncle, father, neighborhood bum, anything. But she said husband. And now she was paying because the witch took her straight to the lingerie section of the store. 

"Er... listen, ah..." Roxanne said. 

"Sally." 

"Sally. I'm not really interested in buying... those type of things," she told her. 

"Don't be silly! You want to keep the spark in your marriage, right? Look at this one!" Sally squealed, holding up a laced red cloth, too skimpy to be identifiable. 

"No, no... That's all right! I rather not. I would really appreciate help with what I came here to buy, though, Sally," Roxanne said, returning the lingerie to their stand. 

Sally sighed, somewhat deflated. "Alright, then. Let's see what you need..." 

Ten minutes later, Roxanne left the store with a full bag of clothing. She dashed across the pathway to Flourish and Blotts, thankful bookstores didn't sell lingerie of any kind. She decided to have a look around before she bought the Daily Prophet for Sirius. The store was fairly crowded, to her surprise. Maybe wizards were more intellectual than Muggles. 

Roxanne hurried over to the Spells and Incantations section. She yanked a beginner's guide off the shelf and flipped through. She stopped when she realized the photos in the book were... moving. The wand in the picture was actually waving in the sequence being taught. A grin crossed her lips. That's one buy. She made her way through the Potions, Dark Arts, History and Charms sections, taking a book from each. 

After fifteen minutes of glorious book hunting, Roxanne hefted a stack of six text books onto the front counter of the store. The man behind the counter began to tally up the price for her. While he took care of that, she glanced around the store. There were three rather scruffy looking men crowded around a Dark Arts book, giving Roxanne the occasional calculating glance. Something about the way the thugs eyed her reminded her all too vividly of Rick. 

She turned her gaze to the opposite side of the store where she spotted a man standing, face hidden by a newspaper. His robes were a bit ragged and tattered at the edge of one sleeve. There were spots where there were patches of fabric sewed over holes or rips. Roxanne took note of the newspaper, wondering if wizards read the Muggle news. No, this paper was one she'd never seen before, the Daily Prophet. Roxanne blinked, remembering her initial cause for being here. 

"Excuse me, could I also purchase one of those Daily Prophets?" she asked the sales-wizard. 

The man raised a brow at her. "You mean a subscription." 

"No, just the current one will be fine," she replied. 

The three men gathered round the Dark Arts book erupted into snickers and murmurs. Roxanne ignored them. The salesman shook his head. 

"Listen, I don't have the time to deal with you young people and your jokes," he grumbled. 

"Jokes? I'm serious. Maybe I'm misunderstanding you, sir. You see, this is really my first day in the wizarding world. I was considered a... Muggle yesterday. I'm not really sure of everything in this world just yet," she explained. 

As soon as the word 'Muggle' escaped her lips, the three thuggish men's snickers were silenced. She glanced over a brief moment and found them all staring at her with malicious glares. Roxanne decided not to look over at them anymore. 

"Why didn't you say so?" the man sighed. "Alright, the only way to purchase a Daily Prophet is to subscribe and have it owled to you." 

"Owled...?" she repeated. 

"You are pretty green, aren't you? An owl will bring latest issues to you. Fill out the subscription form with your addresses and the like so it can find you," he told her, handing her a sheet of paper. 

"Oh... alright. Well, I'll just get the books for now. I'll bring the form here later..." she sighed. "How much?" 

A wide grin crossed his lips. "Fifty galleons." 

Roxanne snorted. "I'm not that green, sir." 

"Oh well. You can't blame me for trying," he sighed. "Two galleons, five knuts." 

"That's more like it," she chuckled, fishing through her pockets for the proper coins. 

She paid the man and took her book filled bag. 

"Since you're so new, you should probably buy a book about more than magic," he told her. "In the General section towards the back there are free brochures and maps. I recommend taking one of each." 

"Really? Free...?" 

"I can't charge for brochures." 

"Alright then. Thanks." 

Roxanne made her way towards the back of the store. She had to force herself not to look at any books or else she'd probably end up making a few more purchases. Her eyes searched for the General rack amid the confusing rows of books. 

"Muggle, are you?" 

Roxanne spun around, startled. A strange man was leaning against a Charms bookshelf, eyes narrowed at her. She recognized him as one of the three men she'd spotted reading a Dark Arts book at the storefront. 

"Not anymore, thank you," she replied, shortly. 

"Once you're a Muggle, you're never anything else," he told her coolly. "I don't suppose you'd know what this is, new comer?" 

He slid a long, thin green stick out of his left pocket, holding it in front of him with his right hand. Roxanne began to get a bad feeling about this situation. Maybe she should have gone to Olivander's first... 

"It's a wand. I don't have the time to explain it to you, but I'm sure there's a helpful book in here somewhere for someone of your... intelligence, hmm?" she answered, rather cheekily. 

The man stared at her, taken aback a moment. A fire filled his eyes and he raised his wand arm. 

"Not yet, Zan," another voice said. 

Zan's two pals made their way over, Dark Arts book still clutched in one of their hands. 

"Just take her with us. We need someone to test out these spells on, anyway," one of them reminded. 

"Come on, one spell now to hold me?" Zan asked, scowling at Roxanne. 

His two friends exchanged glances, grinned, then nodded. "Just don't kill her. Not yet." 

"Thank you. Now, Miss Muggle---" 

"I don't think so!" Roxanne exclaimed, bringing her knee up to meet her attacker's gut. 

Zan doubled over, caught off guard. Before he could realize what had just happened, Roxanne whacked him clean across the head with her bag full of heavy hard-back textbooks. The man fell to the ground, groaning and holding his head and gut. His two friends looked on, wide-eyed. Roxanne spotted his wand lying beside him. She stooped and grabbed it before he could reach for it. She mimicked how she had remembered him holding his wand, aiming it at the two men standing behind their fallen companion. 

"Veni Vidi Vici!" she exclaimed. 

A little puff of smoke escaped the wand. Roxanne's heart dropped to her stomach. She didn't know any spells. What use would a wand be to her? The two men were now grinning at her, amused. Zan cursed, beginning to stand up. 

"Damn... ah... Voila!! No. Umm... Bibidi Babadi Boo! Why did I even try...? Umm.." Roxanne thought hard of any word she had ever heard in a magical children's book. "Abra Kedabra!" 

The three men froze, grins fading. The wand shuddered in her grasp. Roxanne thought she had something. 

"Abra Ked---" 

"Expelliarmus!" one of the two standing men exclaimed. 

Roxanne cried out as the wand was yanked from her grip, falling at Zan's feet. Now she was in trouble. Zan reclaimed his weapon, glaring murderously at Roxanne. 

"Try to kill _me_ will you, you Muggle brat?" he grumbled. "Cru--" 

"Expelliarmus!" a shout came. 

Suddenly, all three men's wands flew from their hands and to their right. Roxanne's gaze followed the wands to where they came to rest in the hand of a man in ragged, patched robes. She recognized him immediately as the man she had spotted reading the Daily Prophet. He was fairly taller than she had originally thought, with a head of gray-speckled light brown hair. His expression was calm, but his amber eyes bore a glint of anger and disgust for the three men whose wands he had collected. 

"Forgive my interruption, gentlemen, but I just thought you should know that the back of a popular bookstore isn't the ideal choice for an assault scene," the man said, walking over. 

He pointed his wand at the trio and muttered a phrase Roxanne didn't quite understand. The three went stiff as their hands flew behind their backs. They struggled as if they had been put into handcuffs. A blue cloaked man arrived with his own wand. 

"I'll take it from here. Thank you, sir," he said to the man in the tattered cloak. 

The blue cloaked man left with the trio walking in front of him, grumbling and struggling against their invisible bindings. They couldn't run off, not when the other man held all three of their wands plus his own, pointed at the trio's backs. Now Roxanne was alone with her rescuer. He turned to her once Zan and his friends were escorted away. 

"Are you alright?" was his first question, as expected. 

"Fine and thanks a lot, by the way," she said, grinning. 

The man stooped down a moment and picked up the two bags she had dropped when she dove for Zan's wand. He held them out to her with a smile on his face. 

"Thanks," she said, taking them back. "Good thing I didn't buy anything made of glass..." 

"I should hope not," he agreed. "I couldn't help but overhear you when you were buying those books. It may be a safe idea not to tell anyone else exactly how new you are." 

"I always learn the hard way," she sighed. "Well, I suppose I'll buy myself a wand first, since I'll probably be mugged once or twice more today." 

The man looked at her a moment, thinking. "If you wouldn't mind company, I could come along with you while you shop. Since you plan on two more muggings, that is." 

Roxanne looked at the stranger in surprise. This man had never met her before in her life, and had just saved her life. Now he was offering to stay with her to avoid any further unpleasant situations. Could she trust this man? For all she knew he could have seen her arrive in Diagon Alley with Sirius in his Animagus form. Maybe he knew Sirius was with her and she could lead him to the convict. 

All her suspicions were pushed into the back of her mind when she gazed on his friendly countenance. This man didn't seem very malicious to her. It would be all right to have him along, just with some caution. 

"Sure, that sounds like a good idea, seeing as I'm pretty clueless," she immediately agreed. "I'm Roxanne Callisto, by the way." 

She swore she saw the man's smile flicker a moment as she spoke her own name. It took him a moment to respond. 

"Remus Lupin. 


End file.
